Cheongho Nice Wins Patent Court Ruling on Ice Water Purifier

Patent Court Rules That Cheongho Nice Ice Water Purifier Patent Should Be Recognized

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Cheol-hyun] Cheongho Nice has received a ruling from the Patent Court recognizing Cheongho Nice's patent on ice water purifiers in the ongoing patent lawsuit against Coway.

According to Cheongho Nice on the 21st, the 2nd Division of the Patent Court ruled in favor of Cheongho Nice's patent in the patent invalidation lawsuit filed by Coway against Cheongho Nice. Cheongho Nice filed a patent infringement lawsuit against Coway in 2014 regarding ice water purifier technology. Subsequently, in 2015, the Seoul Central District Court accepted Cheongho Nice's claims and ordered Coway to dispose of related product facilities and pay damages amounting to 10 billion KRW. In response, Coway requested a patent invalidation trial at the Patent Trial and Appeal Board concerning Cheongho Nice's patented invention.

Cheongho Nice responded with a correction request that modified some parts of the patent by specifying the invention details and design drawings. During this process, Coway claimed that some of the corrected patent contents did not meet the requirements and requested an invalidation trial, but the Patent Trial and Appeal Board dismissed the claim. Coway then filed a lawsuit at the Patent Court to cancel the Patent Trial and Appeal Board's decision. Although the Patent Court initially ruled in favor of Coway, the Supreme Court overturned the ruling in August last year and remanded the case back to the Patent Court. Subsequently, on the 18th, the Patent Court delivered a ruling recognizing the inventive step, a patent requirement, in Cheongho Nice's ice water purifier technology and dismissed Coway's claim.

Meanwhile, the second trial of the patent infringement lawsuit filed by Cheongho Nice against Coway regarding ice water purifier technology had been suspended pending the Patent Court's ruling, and now the case must proceed again following this decision.

Regarding this, Coway stated, "This ruling concerns the 'invalidity' of Cheongho's patent and is unrelated to whether Cheongho's patent was infringed." They added, "This lawsuit pertains to a water purifier discontinued in 2012 and does not affect our business." Coway plans to review the judgment and consider measures, including whether to appeal to the Supreme Court.