KIPO Commissioner Insil Lee’s Visit to the BIPLA

On April 27th, 2023, the BIPLA had the pleasure of hosting Commissioner Insil Lee of the Korean Intellectual Property Office (KIPO) and six members of her team at WilmerHale’s office in Boston. Commissioner Lee’s visit included thoughtful round-table discussions regarding IP in Korea, career journeys, and a presentation on KIPO’s PTC services available to US applicants who select KIPO as the International Search Authority (ISA).

Upon arrival, Commissioner Lee and her team graciously took the time to greet each BIPLA member individually. Her team included Mr. Dae Soon Jung, Director of International Cooperation Division, KIPO; Mr. Hyun-suk Lim, Intellectual Property Attaché, Embassy of the Republic of Korea in the USA; Mr. Sang-dong Hwang, Senior Deputy Director, International Cooperation Division, KIPO; Mr. Seok-min Song, Senior Deputy Director, Intellectual Property Dispute Settlement Division, KIPO; Ms. Yong-ha Kim, Attorney-at-law, LA IP-DESK, LA KOTRA (Korea Trade-Investment Promotion Agency); and Mr. Yeonbum Sung, President, PCT Korea Center.

Once everyone had been introduced, members of the BIPLA and of Commissioner Lee’s team sat down for lunch and informal discussions. The discussions included learning about Commissioner Lee’s career before KIPO. Commissioner Lee has studied in both France and the United States, she worked at a large Korean firm, and she also opened her own firm in Korea, all before becoming Commissioner. At the other tables, attendees discussed what working in IP in Korea is like, how KIPO operates, and what stands out about Boston to Commissioner Lee and her team from an IP perspective. For instance, at the table with Mr. Dae Soon Jung, Mr. Jung provided insight on IP in Korea, including noting Korean citizens can become a Korean patent attorney via an examination and by completing required training afterwards. Mr. Jung also asked for the BIPLA member’s experience on the number of women in patent law in the U.S. while noting more women in Korea are becoming involved in the patent field. He concluded his thoughts by sharing one of KIPO and the Korean Government’s initiatives of a desire to help small entities obtain legal rights in their promising technologies. Mr. Jung also inquired about patent law in the U.S., where the BIPLA attendees discussed recent updates to U.S. patent law, including Amgen v. Sanofi on enablement, how post-grant proceedings operate at a high level, and the USPTO’s pro bono initiatives.

While the discussions could have continued for much longer, attendees turned their attention to a presentation on KIPO’s PCT services from Mr. Yeonbum Sung, President of the PCT Korea Center. He impressed the crowd with statistics on KIPO and PCTs in Korea, including that Korea ranks number 4 in amount of PCTs filed with WIPO, almost 7% of new KIPO patent applications are PCTs filed in Korean, and that KIPO employs about 2,000 individuals with 861 Examiners. Attendees learned that KIPO utilizes an AI tool that allows for accurate language searching of all types of prior art for the highest examination quality, which was met with excitement by the BIPLA attendees. Mr. Sung encouraged anyone with questions to reach out to his office (contact information can be found at: http://www.pctkorea.com/).