South Korea

Firm overview

As a pioneer in the field of intellectual property (IP) and with a proud history as Korea’s oldest IP law firm, NAM IP Group is synonymous with excellence in intellectual property law in South Korea. Since our founding in 1952, our commitment to quality and excellence has been the cornerstone of our success.

In 2024, we underwent significant changes, rebranding from NAM & NAM to NAM IP Group and transitioning from a General Partnership (GP) to a Limited Liability Partnership (LLP) to better accommodate our expanding team. These developments reflect our continuous evolution, building on the firm’s formidable 71-year legacy, and enhance our ability to attract and retain top talent in the field of patent law.

For over 71 years, both domestic and multinational clients have placed their trust in NAM IP Group. This trust is founded on the exceptional quality of our services, delivered by skilled professionals who provide effective solutions tailored to each client's specific needs. Our team is composed of experts selected based on specialized technological knowledge, ensuring that we are equipped to meet the demands of our global clients.

We are dedicated to IP-related matters and continuously expand our practice to provide clear and effective solutions for our clients' success. To maintain consistently the highest standards, we operate with systemized procedures adhering to strict quality management and information security protocols.

NAM IP Group boasts one of the largest and most comprehensive IP practices in South Korea, covering all forms of intellectual property and major technological fields, with particular expertise in electronics, artificial intelligence, biotechnology, mechanics, brand protection, trademarks, and designs.

We stand ready to serve as your bridge to IP success in South Korea, in alignment with our firm’s motto: “PAVE the way for clients’ success.”

Our Core Values:
Prestigious: Our team consists of leading patent attorneys and lawyers who are recognized as experts in their respective fields. We strive to reflect this industry-leading status in the services we provide to our clients.

Accessible: We prioritize clear communication, timely updates, and a client-centered approach, ensuring that our services are easy to understand and highly responsive to client needs.

Value-Adding: NAM IP Group goes beyond providing legal advice by offering strategic insights, innovative solutions, and comprehensive support, tailored to each client's unique needs.

Efficient: We understand the importance of time in legal matters and are committed to delivering swift, effective solutions without compromising on quality. Our streamlined processes, advanced IT technology, and skilled professionals enable us to handle cases with speed and precision.

Firm overview

BKL is one of the very few Korean law firms providing fully-integrated IP legal services and has steadfastly maintained such tradition since the inception of our practice in the 1990s. Our IP practice consists of prosecution, litigation and transactions involving all areas of IP.

IP Litigation and Dispute Resolution:

With four prominent former judges specializing in IP on our team (Messrs. Taeck Soo Kwon, Myung Kyu Lee, Kijoong Kang and Junghi Park), BKL has one of the nation’s most renowned IP litigation/dispute resolution practices. Particularly strong in representing clients in the pharmaceutical and high-tech industries, the depth and prestige of our practitioners in this area has set us apart from other IP practices in Korea. Also included in this area is our trade secret practice which encompasses all aspects of litigation, investigation and legal compliance involving trade secrets, in both civil and criminal contexts. The key members of our trade secret practice team are Ms. Jihyun Kim and Mr. Tae Uk Kang, both of whom are also former judges.

IP Transactions:

BKL's IP transactions lawyers provide clients with deep and broad experience in negotiation of IP licence, due diligence, IP audits, and the development of IP portfolio strategies. Our transactional practice advises many of the market-leading companies in the entertainment & sports sectors in connection with IP licensing and technology transfers. Messrs. Mun Ki Nam, Tae Uk Kang and Ingi Min are partners specializing in IP transactions.

IP Prosecution:

As an integral part of our IP practice, our IP prosecution team has represented a number of multinational corporations from a wide range of technical fields, including engineering, electronics, manufacturing, and chemical/pharmaceutical/biomed. Collaboration between our patent prosecution attorneys and other BKL practice groups ensures provision of balanced and comprehensive legal services to our clients.

Firm overview

E.M. Hwang & Partners, founded in 1982, has over 40 years of experience in both domestic and international intellectual property, serving a diverse range of clients from major companies and venture enterprises to individuals. We specialize in all aspects of intellectual property, including patents, trademarks, designs, utility models, copyrights, and trade secrets. Our highly qualified staff manages all aspects of IP protection both in Korea and abroad. Our firm is internationally recognized for providing exceptional intellectual property services. Managing Intellectual Property, a globally distributed publication, has recognized us as a top intellectual property office.

Achievement

E.M. Hwang & Partners handles over 1,000 domestic and more than 1,000 international cases every year. This demonstrates that our office is considered among the top domestic patent offices based on the number of international applications.

In the IP sector, E.M. Hwang & Partners has been selected as one of the two qualified law firms for the Export Voucher Matching Pair program by the South Korean government. This program supports foreign companies entering the Korean market or importing Korean products and services, and we have received this recognition for five consecutive years.

E.M. Hwang & Partners has achieved success in 14 invalidation trials involving specific incidents in recent years. We discovered that a third party had imitated and registered our client's mark. In response, we filed both invalidation trials and non-use cancellation trials, prevailing in these legal proceedings. This significant achievement garnered nationwide attention and led to our recognition as an exemplary case by the Korea Intellectual Property Protection Agency in 2022. We were honored to present this case to South Korean companies.

E.M. Hwang & Partners has been designated by the Korean Intellectual Property Office (KIPO) as an Institution for Examination of Industrial Property Rights.

Firm overview

Kim & Chang's Intellectual Property (IP) Practice is the top rated IP specialized practice in Korea, and uniquely combines our recognized expertise in IP with the resources of Korea's leading general practice law firm. Our IP Practice boasts the deepest and most experienced roster of IP attorneys, patent attorneys, former Patent Court Judges, foreign attorneys, and technical specialists in Korea.
As one of the largest general practice law firms in Asia and with a wealth of knowledge gleaned from handling many of the most important IP cases in Korea over the past 50 years, Kim & Chang is able to offer comprehensive legal solutions for all your IP and IP related needs.

With over 450 professionals including IP litigators, patent attorneys and foreign IP attorneys, and over 600 patent engineers, trademark paralegals, and support staff, we cover the full scope of IP rights. Our patent professionals have specialized technical backgrounds in numerous fields, including biotech, pharmaceuticals, chemistry, mechanical engineering, electrical engineering and computer science. Many of our professionals also have extensive experience as judges, prosecutors, or Korean Intellectual Property Office (KIPO) examiners, and their experience and know-how is invaluable in obtaining positive results for our clients. We work closely with other practice groups within the firm, including general corporate law, mergers & acquisitions, competition law and customs, in order to advise our clients on any IP-related legal issue they may encounter in Korea.

The following is an exemplary list of services provided by the patent group:

• Patent infringement litigation and pre-assertion due diligence;
• IP Trial and Appeal Board litigation (invalidity and scope confirmation actions);
• IP arbitration (domestic and international);
• Antitrust and fair trade violations arising out of IP-related matters;
• Domestic patent prosecution (preparing, filing and prosecuting patent applications before KIPO);
• Foreign patent prosecution (preparing patent applications and preparing responses to office actions in foreign jurisdictions);
• Prior art searching (for litigation and licensing);
• Patent infringement and validity opinions;
• Freedom-to-operate opinions (for product clearance);
• Patentability opinions;
• Disputes arising out of patent agreements;
• Assignment of patent rights;
• Joint development, ownership and exploitation agreements;
• Patent and technology licensing;
• Patent portfolio development via indigenous innovation, patent acquisition or divestment projects;
• Employment contract disputes concerning patents;
• US litigation support, including pretrial discovery document review and deposition support (e.g., by attorneys admitted to US bars); and Patent Due diligence.