From IP Disputes to Portfolio Building: Atlas Legal’s Comprehensive Intellectual Property Legal Services in South Korea

1. The Importance and Reality of Intellectual Property Protection

In the knowledge economy era, a company’s core assets are no longer tangible assets. Intellectual property rights such as patents, trademarks, trade secrets, and copyrights have become the source of corporate competitiveness. However, while many companies recognize the importance of intellectual property protection, they often don’t know how to respond appropriately when infringement situations actually occur, or they give up due to cost burdens.

Particularly for small and medium-sized enterprises and startups in South Korea, despite having core technologies or ideas, they often lack systematic intellectual property management systems and suffer damage from technology leaks by competitors or former employees, and the launch of copycat products.

What companies need in this situation is not simply rights registration. They need comprehensive intellectual property strategies that cover everything from infringement prevention to dispute response and rights utilization, as well as professional legal services that can implement these strategies.

2. Patent and Utility Model Services

Patent Infringement Response and Litigation

Patent infringement disputes are one of the most serious legal risks for technology companies. Atlas Legal represents clients throughout the entire process, from precise analysis of patent infringement to injunction and damages claims litigation.

Patent infringement determination requires in-depth understanding of the relevant technology, along with multi-faceted analysis including claim interpretation, prior art searches, and invalidity reviews. We effectively protect our clients’ patent rights based on technical expertise, and conversely, when clients face patent infringement claims, we protect them through invalidity or non-infringement defenses.

Patent Trial and Appeal Board Proceedings and Patent Court Litigation

Patent invalidity, cancellation, and claim scope confirmation trials are core procedures in patent disputes. Trial procedures at the Patent Trial and Appeal Board require a different specialized approach than civil litigation, and often continue to Patent Court litigation.

Based on our extensive experience at the Patent Trial and Appeal Board and Patent Court, we provide optimal strategies to clients and increase the likelihood of success through clear logical construction of technical issues.

Employee Invention Compensation Disputes

Compensation disputes for employee inventions developed within companies are also increasing. In this field where the interests of inventors and companies are sharply opposed, it’s important to accurately evaluate the inventor’s contribution, the company’s contribution, and the economic value of the invention.

3. Trademark and Design Rights Protection Services

Trademark Infringement and Unfair Competition Response

Trademark infringement appears not only in cases of using identical trademarks, but also in various forms such as source confusion and dilution caused by similar trademarks. Additionally, unfair competition acts that cause confusion about products or business entities, and product design imitation acts often become issues together.

We provide comprehensive response services not only for trademark infringement but also for unfair competition acts under the Unfair Competition Prevention Act. We also provide specialized consultation on new types of infringement activities occurring in online environments and domain disputes.

Customs Response and Parallel Import Consultation

Blocking the import of trademark-infringing products is an effective means of rights protection. We provide comprehensive consultation on border measures, from customs-level responses utilizing the Korea Customs Service’s intellectual property protection system to distinguishing between legitimate parallel imports and infringing imports.

4. Trade Secret and Industrial Technology Protection

The Importance of Trade Secret Infringement Response

Trade secret infringement is a type of dispute that can cause fatal damage to companies. In particular, technology leaks and customer information theft that occur during the transfer or resignation of key employees directly undermine corporate competitiveness.

A characteristic of trade secret infringement disputes is that rapid response is essential. As time passes, damage spreads and restoration becomes more difficult, so professional legal response is needed immediately upon recognizing infringement.

Non-compete Injunctions and Trade Secret Protection System Establishment

Non-compete injunctions against former employees who have moved to competitors are a core means of trade secret protection. However, since we must balance workers’ freedom of occupational choice, we must precisely prove the specificity of protected trade secrets, the concreteness of infringement concerns, and the reasonableness of prohibition scope.

Moreover, prevention is more important than post-incident response. We provide comprehensive consultation for establishing corporate trade secret protection systems, minimizing trade secret leak risks through NDA (Non-Disclosure Agreement) drafting, internal security regulation improvement, and employee education.

Evidence Collection through Digital Forensics

Securing digital evidence is crucial for proving trade secret infringement. We cooperate with digital forensics experts to find traces of trade secret theft from computers, mobile phones, and storage media, and collect evidence according to lawful procedures to ensure admissibility in court.

5. Copyright-Related Disputes and Consultation

Copyright Protection in Various Content Fields

The importance of copyright has grown even more in the digital age. Various forms of creative works including not only music, video, art, and books, but also software, games, and websites are subject to copyright protection.

We provide consultation on copyright infringement in all fields from traditional works to the latest digital content, and present civil and criminal remedies in case of infringement.

New Copyright Issues in the Platform Era

The emergence of various platforms such as YouTube, OTT services, and social media has complicated copyright relationships. Specialized consultation is needed on establishing rights relationships between platform operators, content providers, and users, copyright fee collection methods, and license agreements.

Software Copyright and Open Source Licenses

Computer program copyright is a particularly important field for IT companies. We provide comprehensive consultation on proper understanding and utilization of open source licenses, preventing copyright infringement of commercial software, and copyright management in software development processes.

6. Intellectual Property Transactions and Commercialization

License Agreements and Technology Transfer

Effective licensing strategies are necessary for realizing the value of intellectual property rights. We provide consultation on various forms of intellectual property transactions from simple technology transfer to strategic alliances and joint R&D.

License agreements involve complex issues such as royalty calculation, technology improvement rights, cross-licensing, and exclusivity. We design optimal contract structures that match our clients’ business strategies.

Intellectual Property Due Diligence in M&A

Intellectual property due diligence is essential in corporate mergers and acquisitions. We support M&A success by comprehensively reviewing the validity of intellectual property rights held by target companies, infringement risks, and the possibility of license agreement succession.

IP-Based Investment and Commercialization

We also provide consultation on new forms of intellectual property utilization such as investment attraction using intellectual property as collateral, securitization of intellectual property rights, and establishment of IP-based joint ventures.

7. Industry-Specific IP Services

ICT and Fourth Industrial Revolution Technologies

Fourth industrial revolution technology fields such as artificial intelligence, blockchain, IoT, and big data are areas where intellectual property protection is particularly important. We provide customized IP strategies considering technological convergence, global competition, and rapid technological changes.

Bio-healthcare and Pharmaceuticals

The healthcare field, including biotechnology, medical devices, and new drug development, is an industry where the importance of patent rights is maximized. We provide specialized consultation on patent strategies during clinical trials, biosimilar-related issues, and patentability of medical AI technologies.

Entertainment and Gaming

With the global success of K-content, demand for intellectual property protection in the entertainment industry has surged. We comprehensively support character copyrights, music copyrights, in-game intellectual property rights, and IP protection strategies for overseas expansion.

8. Atlas Legal’s Differentiated Expertise

Combination of Technical and Legal Expertise

In intellectual property disputes, in-depth understanding of relevant technologies or creative works is essential. We have established cooperative networks with experts in various technical fields and have the ability to clearly analyze complex technical issues and structure them into legal logic.

Global Services through Domestic and International Networks

Intellectual property is becoming an increasingly global issue. We provide comprehensive services for multinational patent disputes, overseas IP registration, and international license agreements through close cooperation with domestic patent firms and overseas IP specialized law firms.

Growth Stage-Specific Customized Services

We provide customized services tailored to companies’ growth stages and sizes, from initial IP strategy establishment for startups to global IP portfolio management for large corporations. We particularly have extensive experience in IP due diligence and supplementation plan establishment for companies preparing for technology-based IPOs.

Recent Major Achievements

Atlas Legal has recently achieved excellent results in numerous trade secret infringement cases, non-compete injunction cases, and damages lawsuits due to design invalidation, demonstrating outstanding performance in the intellectual property field in South Korea.

Intellectual property rights are core assets that determine a company’s future competitiveness. Atlas Legal will protect clients’ valuable intellectual property rights based on extensive experience and expertise, thereby supporting sustainable growth.