Mr. Kim is Chair of Lee International’s IP Group and is leading the Patent Department, handling patent cases in the fields of electronics and mechanics for western clients. Before entering the legal profession, he spent three years as a research engineer in the Aerospace Research Institute of Korean Airlines Inc. He performed structural tests and analyses for Korean Airlines’ light airplane model development project.
Since joining the firm in 1994, he has been in involved in preparing and prosecuting patent applications (primarily in mechanics and electronics) through the Korean Intellectual Property Office (KIPO), and responding to Office Actions from KIPO. He also has extensive experience in preparing appeal briefs and attending oral arguments/hearings before the Intellectual Property Tribunal (IPT) of KIPO and the Patent Court. He has advised numerous global companies, including U.S. and Canadian IT and materials companies, on Korean patent prosecution and infringement cases, and he has performed due diligence on the strength of patent portfolios. Mr. Kim has successfully handled many patent litigation matters - among those, a very complex patent opposition case which he handled on behalf of a small U.S. company against the largest Finnish manufacturer of paper fabrication machines, and a complex patent infringement lawsuit and related invalidation trial on behalf of a Japanese company against a Korean company.
Mr. Kim is also familiar with U.S. patent law practice, having studied intellectual property law at the Franklin Pierce IP Law Center at the University of New Hampshire in the U.S. and practiced as a foreign legal intern at Baker & McKenzie in New York. Mr. Kim also studied aeronautical engineering and received B.S. and M.S. degrees at Seoul National University. Additionally, he received a Master’s degree in electronic communication from Hanyang University in Seoul.
Primary Practice Areas
- Filing patent applications, trials, lawsuits and analysis in the fields of machinery, metal and electronics on behalf of clients from the U.S., European countries and Japan
Admissions/Qualifications
- Corporate Technology Rating Agencies (2007)
- Admitted as a Korean Patent & Trademark Attorney (1995)
