Cheongho Nice Wins Patent Invalidation Lawsuit Against Coway Over Ice Water Dispenser

Supreme Court Final Ruling Recognizes Cheongho Nice Patent
Coway States "Patent Registration Ruling Unrelated to Patent Infringement Lawsuit"

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Heeyoon] The patent dispute over ice water purifiers between Cheongho Nice and Coway has come to an end with the recognition of Cheongho Nice's patent.

The Supreme Court Special Division 2 delivered a final ruling recognizing Cheongho Nice's patent in the patent invalidation lawsuit filed by Coway against Cheongho Nice.

In 2014, Cheongho Nice filed a lawsuit against Coway for patent infringement related to ice water purifier technology. In 2015, the Seoul Central District Court accepted Cheongho Nice's claims and ordered Coway to dispose of the 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 regarding Cheongho Nice's patent invention.

Cheongho Nice submitted a correction request to partially amend the patent content by specifying the invention details and design drawings related to the ice water purifier technology. 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 request.

Coway then filed a lawsuit at the Patent Court to cancel the Patent Trial and Appeal Board's decision, and the Patent Court ruled in favor of Coway. However, in August last year, the Supreme Court overturned the lower court's decision and remanded the case to the Patent Court. In June, the Patent Court ruled that Cheongho Nice's ice water purifier technology met the patent requirement of inventiveness and dismissed Coway's claim. Coway appealed to the Supreme Court, which on the 11th issued a dismissal without oral argument.

Coway stated regarding the ruling, "This lawsuit is limited to the validity of patent registration and is unrelated to whether patent infringement occurred," and explained, "It concerns a water purifier model sold in 2012, which was sold for a limited time and discontinued, and the ice water purifiers currently sold apply completely different technology."

The trial determining whether patent infringement occurred between Cheongho Nice and Coway is currently ongoing in the second instance.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.