"Prioritizing Mediation Over Litigation" Expansion of 'Court-Mediation Linkage System' in Intellectual Property Rights Sector

The 'Court-Mediation Linkage System' in the field of intellectual property rights will be expanded to more courts.

The Korean Intellectual Property Office (KIPO) announced on the 3rd that it recently signed a tripartite memorandum of understanding with the Suwon District Court and the Korea Intellectual Property Protection Agency to implement the 'Court-Mediation Linkage System.'

According to the agreement, the Suwon District Court will be able to refer cases that require intellectual property expertise and are more suitable for mediation than court judgment to the Industrial Property Dispute Mediation Committee of KIPO for resolution.

The linkage system allows cases pending in court to be referred to an external specialized mediation institution for handling. The Secretariat of the Dispute Mediation Committee forms a mediation panel of about three experts in each field, and disputes linked from the court are resolved through mediation procedures.

The average dispute resolution period upon referral to the Dispute Mediation Committee is about two months, and since no additional costs are incurred, parties can save the costs and time required for litigation if mediation is successful.

The Dispute Mediation Committee was established in 1995 by KIPO to support the prompt and economical resolution of intellectual property disputes, allowing parties to receive expert mediation results without separate fees.

Due to these advantages, dispute resolution through the Dispute Mediation Committee attracts high interest from individuals and small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) facing litigation.

For example, from 2019 to 2023 (as of November), individuals and SMEs accounted for 93% of the total applications for dispute mediation to the Dispute Mediation Committee. This indicates that individuals and SMEs with limited capital often choose dispute mediation over the burdens of litigation.

The total number of applications received by the Dispute Mediation Committee is also increasing. The number of mediation applications, which was only 45 in 2019, rose to 145 this year (as of November). With the Suwon District Court implementing the linkage system from next year, it is expected that annual mediation applications will exceed 200.

Earlier this year, KIPO began implementing the linkage system with the Seoul Central District Court. The Suwon District Court is the second court to establish and implement the linkage system with KIPO.

KIPO expects significant effects from applying the linkage system, as intellectual property disputes are concentrated in these courts (Seoul District Court ranks first, Suwon District Court second).

First-instance civil lawsuits related to patents, trademarks, utility models, designs, and new plant variety protection rights have been concentrated since 2016 in six district courts: Seoul (Central District Court), Suwon, Busan, Daejeon, Daegu, and Gwangju.

Applications for mediation through the Dispute Mediation Committee can be made individually even if the case is not currently in litigation. Individual applications can be submitted by downloading and filling out the application form from the Secretariat’s website of the Dispute Mediation Committee.

Lee In-sil, Commissioner of KIPO, stated, “We will strive to gradually increase the number of courts implementing the linkage system so that intellectual property disputes pending in courts can be resolved amicably and promptly through mediation.”

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