South Korea is squarely involved in the global debates regarding the intersection between standard essential patents (SEPs) and competition law, as it is home to an active competition agency and major technology firms such as Samsung and LG that have rapidly advanced from being almost pure implementers/licensees to simultaneously becoming innovators/licensors in the information technology sector. The landmark case between Samsung and Apple was a major milestone in terms of the application of competition law to the exercise of patent rights by an SEP holder, in particular whether a filing of an injunction claim based on an SEP violated the law as an abuse of intellectual property rights. The Korea Fair Trade Commission has also shown substantial interest and activity in this area, as represented by its recent revisions of its intellectual property rights related guidelines, and with the Commission’s latest decision at the end of 2016 against Qualcomm, the debate around the exercise of SEPs is sure to be more vigorous than ever, in addition to expanding to new issues and dimensions.
