The Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) is reorganizing its trial groups with a focus on advanced strategic industries. This reflects the agency's intention to concentrate trial capabilities in areas where trial requests are concentrated, aiming to accelerate dispute resolution.
On the 2nd, the Korean Intellectual Property Office's PTAB announced that it will reorganize the work among patent trial groups and newly assign trial examiners to strengthen trial expertise and expedite trial processing in the trademark field.
Until now, the patent trial groups have been organized and operated mainly around traditional industries, showing limitations in reflecting the trend of convergence and fusion of advanced technologies such as artificial intelligence, semiconductors, and secondary batteries.
In line with this trend, the PTAB will expand the dedicated trial divisions handling advanced technologies from the existing six fields (semiconductors, mobility, secondary batteries, artificial intelligence, next-generation communications, digital media) to nine fields by adding bio, robotics, and pharmaceuticals.
Additionally, the three newly established trial divisions will be staffed with specialized trial examiners, including PhDs, professional engineers, and highly experienced examiners and trial experts, placing greater emphasis on meeting both expertise and speed in the trial process.
In particular, to swiftly resolve disputes in the trademark field where trial requests have recently concentrated, additional trademark trial examiners will be assigned, and work will be reorganized focusing on machinery and electronics trademarks, chemical and food trademarks, daily necessities trademarks, and design to enhance expertise.
Seo Eul-su, head of the PTAB, stated, “In the new year, we will reorganize trial work centered on advanced strategic industries to enhance trial expertise and strive to resolve intellectual property disputes quickly and accurately.”
© The Asia Business Daily(www.asiae.co.kr). All rights reserved.
