Patent Office: "Amendment to Patent Attorney Act Passed in National Assembly Plenary Session... Strengthening Ethical Obligations"

[Asia Economy (Daejeon) Reporter Jeong Il-woong] Five amendments to the Patent Attorney Act aimed at enhancing the ethical duties and public interest of patent attorneys have passed the National Assembly plenary session.

According to the Korean Intellectual Property Office (KIPO) on the 9th, the amendments passed the National Assembly plenary session the day before and will be promulgated this month, with enforcement starting six months after the promulgation.

The amendments include measures to strengthen the ethical duties and public interest of patent attorneys, such as ▲prohibition of false or exaggerated advertising by patent attorneys ▲prohibition of broker activities related to patent attorney work ▲strengthening the obligation of patent attorneys to engage in public interest activities ▲establishing grounds for opening joint offices of patent attorneys ▲and enhancing fairness in the patent attorney examination system.

First, the existing Patent Attorney Act lacked provisions regulating advertising activities by patent attorneys, making effective sanctions difficult. However, once the amendments take effect, false or exaggerated advertising about patent attorney services or unfair advertising that causes consumers to have unreasonable expectations will be prohibited.

In particular, a new criminal penalty provision has been established for false advertising or the unauthorized use of qualifications or titles without legal grounds, punishable by imprisonment of up to one year or a fine of up to 10 million KRW.

The amendments also prohibit acts of introducing, mediating, or enticing cases based on money or entertainment in relation to patent attorney work, and if patent attorneys or office staff provide money or entertainment as compensation for such introduction, mediation, or enticement, they may face imprisonment of up to five years or a fine of up to 50 million KRW.

To strengthen patent attorneys’ public interest activities, the obligation for public interest activities, which was previously based on ‘bylaws,’ has been changed to a ‘legal’ obligation, enabling patent attorneys’ public interest activities to be effectively expanded in social issues such as technology theft from small and medium enterprises and trademark disputes involving small business owners.

Additionally, the amendments allow two or more patent attorneys to form a ‘joint office’ and improve the system where current KIPO career officials who meet certain requirements are exempted from some patent attorney exam subjects. Those who have been dismissed or removed from office and those demoted or suspended due to accepting money or entertainment will be excluded from the partial exam exemption.

KIPO Commissioner Lee In-sil stated, “As the importance of intellectual property rises in the era of the Fourth Industrial Revolution, patent attorneys are required not only to have expertise but also a high level of ethics and public interest. The amendment to the Patent Attorney Act will be an opportunity for the public and companies to receive high-quality patent attorney services they can trust.”