【Research Center for the Legal System of Intellectual Property】

Activities

Trip to Seoul

RA Asuka Gomi

At the weekend of mid-March when there was Japan vs. South Korea WBC semifinal game, many of RCLIP members were in Seoul, seeking "heal" through enjoying local food. Having bibimbap in the morning made us vigorous and we also enjoyed splendid grilled meat dinner and further, Reimen(cold noodle), and Sam Gye Tang. It was such a delicious and refreshing trip.

Although Korea is only two-hour away from Haneda by air, which is actually closer than Okinawa of Japan, people have had an image that Korea is close geographically but distant until just recently. Also there have seemed to be some difficult feelings that both nations confront each other because of their tragic history. However, with the experience of co-hosting the Soccer World Cup or the recent Korean boom in Japan, Korea has become the closest nation to Japan literally.

I think it is much the same for IP.

Korean IP legislation is greatly affected by Japanese legislation and the structure of articles in each law has many similarities. Thus, originally, it is highly possible that the same discussions in Japanese law might occur in Korean law. Certainly, there has been a strong image that Korea is one of copycat countries and less-developed in terms of IP. So there was little chance to think about Korean law in Japan. However, Korea has achieved economic development and technology improvement recently. For example, there was Korean chancery's decision on the requirement of equivalent infringements at the same time when Japan had the same decision. In addition, Korean court made some interesting decisions regarding the latest topics including the scope of suit against Patent Office's decision for invalidation or suit against infringement' in invalidation judgment, which are also focused in Japan in relation to law revision. Studying these decisions is very useful for research on Japanese law. Also, in regard to design, Korean design law has already adopted the double track system, about which Japan still has second thoughts, and it has already realized the protection of screen design, on which Japan has just submitted a bill. Studying these results in Korea could have much influence on legislative theory or interpretation theory of Japanese design law. So I expect on my own that research on Korean law will be flourished in Japan in the future, having high hopes of becoming an expert in that field when eating Reimen. However, my language ability is so poor that I cannot order Reimen by myself. The first thing to do is learning how to read Hangeul. I am already so discouraged, realizing I am too far away to carry out my ambition.