"Record High Number of Applicants for 'Industrial Property Rights Dispute Mediation' Instead of Litigation"

159 Adjustment Requests Last Year, Double Compared to Previous Year
Highest Number of Adjustment Requests Since 1995
Advantages of Less Time and Cost Burden Compared to Litigation
Individuals and Small Businesses Account for Over 80% of Applicants

Startup Company A recently resolved a design right dispute with a mid-sized company in the same industry within four months by utilizing the Industrial Property Rights Dispute Mediation System. Instead of incurring high costs by appointing an agent, they reached a consensus between the parties with the help of experts. Through this, Company A was able to save the time and costs that would have been required if they had filed a civil lawsuit and focus on their business.

Cases like Company A’s, which seek to amicably resolve disputes with rival companies by using the Industrial Property Rights Dispute Mediation System, are increasing. On the 12th, the Korean Intellectual Property Office (KIPO) announced that 159 cases of industrial property rights dispute mediation were filed last year. This number is more than double the previous year’s 76 cases and is the highest since the Dispute Mediation Committee was established in 1995.

The dispute mediation system supports resolving intellectual property disputes such as patents, trademarks, and trade secrets through dialogue and agreement between parties with the help of experts.

The biggest advantages of the dispute mediation system are the relatively short application and processing periods and the lower economic burden. Additionally, if mediation is successfully concluded through the industrial property rights dispute mediation system, it has the effect of a “judicial settlement” equivalent to a final judgment, serving as a substitute for litigation. This is another reason why parties choose dispute mediation over lawsuits.

Last year, individuals and small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) accounted for 134 cases, representing 84% of the total applications. This indicates that individuals and SMEs, who feel a relatively heavy burden in terms of cost and time, are increasingly resolving disputes through the mediation system without resorting to litigation.

As of last year, trademark and design cases, which are the most frequent disputes among small business owners, accounted for 111 cases, or 70% of the total applications, followed by 34 cases (21%) involving technical disputes such as patents and trade secrets.

Most notably, the average period from case filing to resolution in these dispute areas was 66 days, which is 6 to 8 times faster than litigation. According to data compiled by the Court Administration Office (2021), the average processing time for first-instance patent lawsuits is 554 days, and for trademark lawsuits, it is 393 days.

Last year, the mediation success rate of the dispute mediation system was 53% of total applications, which is more than 20 percentage points higher compared to general mediation systems such as civil mediation, which had a success rate of 30.7% as of 2022.

Companies and individuals wishing to use the dispute mediation system for patent, trademark, design, utility model rights, trade secret infringement, and unfair competition damage can apply through the Industrial Property Rights Dispute Mediation Committee of the Korea Intellectual Property Protection Agency.

Jung In-sik, Director of the Industrial Property Protection Cooperation Bureau at KIPO, stated, “KIPO will continue to support many companies in resolving disputes through mediation instead of litigation by establishing a ‘one-stop dispute resolution system’ that links the dispute mediation system with KIPO’s administrative investigation and prosecution functions. We also plan to appoint full-time dispute mediation committee members to improve the mediation success rate.”

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