Lee International IP & Law Group is "one of the largest prosecution firms," according to a peer. Seong-Ki Kim and Terry Taehong Kim are respected in the chemical and electronics areas respectively.
The team enjoyed a string of victories this past year in contentious and administrative matters. Sandoz Korea looked to Seong-Ki Kim and his team in a successful invalidation action brought against Eli Lilly's patent for the manufacturing process of an anti-tumour agent Gemza. Eli Lilly has appealed to the Supreme Court and the case is pending.
In another achievement, attorney-at-law Dong-Hwan Kim and patent attorney Kee-Hyo Kim defended Lotte Engineering & Construction in a patent infringement suit over construction equipment and construction methods brought by patent owner Dong-Deok Han. The court found that a contractor who is part of a construction project performed under multiple subcontracts is not deemed to have worked all the technologies used in the project. The plaintiff appealed the court's decision but failed to follow up. The case has been dismissed as a result.
The group further helped Airproducts Korea obtain a preliminary injunction against DNF, which was preparing to sell the film forming materials needed in the manufacture of semi-conductors. The preliminary injunction was granted within four months after the application and while an invalidation action filed by the opponent was pending.
The firm's clients include Research In Motion, Fujitsu, BASF and InterDigital Technology.