KPAA Insists Lawyer’s Automatic Acquisition of ‘Patent Attorney’ License Should Be Banned

Poster of abolishing the automatic acquisition of patent attorney qualification given to Lawyers in 2015 [Photo provided: KPAA]

The Korea Patent Attorneys Association (Chairman Hong Jang-won) urged the last remaining automatic acquisition of Patent attorney qualification given to lawyers in a statement on the 19th.

On the 15th the Constitutional Court sentenced that Article 3 of the former Certified Tax Accountant Act which does not automatically qualify lawyers as tax accountants does not violate the Constitution. The Constitutional Court said in its decision that the tax law has been revised to gradually reduce the scope of the automatic grant of tax accountant qualifications with the establishment of the tax accountant system and that the abolition of automatic qualifications is an appropriate means to achieve the legislative purpose of eliminating preferential treatment related to the automatic grant of tax accountant qualifications and promoting equity with the general public.

According to the Constitutional Courts decision KPAA urged that lawyers acquisition of Patent attorney licence should now be abolished at the request of the times. The qualification of patent attorney is the only state-certified license that can be obtained as a special treatment for lawyers. In other words a lawyer is qualified as a patent attorney without a separate test or verification. Although they are eligible after completing about eight months of practical training as well as the period of practical training is short and since they return to each law office after the practical training it is structurally difficult to gain expertise as a patent attorney such as writing an application. It is significantly different from the case in which those who pass the patent attorney exam and complete practical training and build practical skills at the patent law office.

KPAA strongly urged The abolition of the patent attorney license acquisition system for lawyers which undermines the expertise of patent attorneys and weakens the competitiveness of the nations intellectual property through the statement saying In the era of the Fourth Industrial Revolution as industrial property rights such as patents have emerged as the core of national in addition to corporate competitiveness the social role and expertise of patent attorneys who are experts in the field such as patents are further emphasized.

From the Materials parts and equipment incident following Japans export regulations to the recent COVID-19 vaccines there are patents at the center of the global market said Hong Jang-won President of the Korean Patent Attorneys Association. Substituting for 200000 patent applications every year raising expertise patent attorneys are striving to create excellent patents. In this situation the automatic qualification of a patent attorney given to lawyers is as well as a preferential treatment for lawyers only a relic of the old age that undermines the expertise of patent attorneys who are specialists in the field of industrial property rights such as patent.

Whole Statement

On the 15th the Constitutional Court sentenced that Article 3 of the former Certified Tax Accountant Act which does not automatically grant tax accountants license to lawyers does not violate the Constitution.

The Constitutional Court said in its decision that the tax law has been revised to gradually reduce the scope of the automatic grant of tax accountants qualification with the establishment of the tax accountant system and that the abolition of automatic qualifications is an appropriate means to achieve the legislative purpose of eliminating preferential treatment related to the automatic grant of tax accountant license and promoting equity with the general public.

The Korea Patent Attorney Association supports the Constitutional Courts decision and reveals that the abolition of the last remaining automatic qualification the lawyers license to become a Patent attorney is a legitimate demand of the times.

After completing the practical training a lawyer can obtain the qualification of a patent attorney without further examination or verification. In addition to passing the exam it is significantly different from the case in which those who pass the patent attorney exam and complete practical training and build practical skills at the patent office. Expertise of the lawyers cannot be verified and its cultivation cannot be expected.

In the era of the Fourth Industrial Revolution as industrial property rights such as patents have emerged as the core of national competitiveness as well as of companies the social role and expertise of patent attorneys who are experts in the field such as patents are further emphasized.

From the Materials parts and equipment incident following Japans export regulations to the recent COVID-19 vaccines there are patents at the center of the global market. Observing we are struggling to get vaccines as soon as we take our first step into advanced countries I feel the importance of technology and patents more and more.

Technology development and the creation of excellent patents go hand in hand. Even if Technology independence is achieved through huge R&D investments of tens of trillions of won it is only a sand castle if Patent independence is not achieved. All the money time and effort spent on technology development will come to nothing with only a courts ruling on patent infringement.

Patent attorneys have developed their expertise by applying for 200000 patents every year and are striving to create excellent patents. The lawyers acquisition of patent attorney qualification is such a preferential treatment for a lawyer who wants to have a free ride on a Patent attorney a specialist in the field of industrial property rights such as patents and an old-fashioned artifact that undermines the expertise of a patent attorney.

The Constitutional Courts decision to abolish automatic qualifications of tax accountants given to a lawyer is based on the spirit eliminating the controversy of lawyers preferential treatment related to the automatic qualifications of tax accountants and enhancing expertise in the tax field.

To this the Korea Patent Attorney Association strongly urges the abolition of the patent attorney qualification system for lawyers that undermines the expertise of patent attorneys and weakens the competitiveness of national intellectual property.

2021. 7. 19.

President of Korea Patent Attorney Association Hong Jang-won

Website: : http://cms.wip-news.com/news/articleView.html?idxno=7753