Lee International

The Korean Patent Attorneys Association (KPAA) launched a “Product Patent Certification” service for examining and certifying whether patents are properly labeled on products on sale, on October 31, 2022.

In order to prevent consumers’ confusion due to false patent labeling and correct market order, the KPAA, an intellectual property expert organization, has launched a service for reviewing whether a patented technology has been applied to the products on sale and issuing a certification mark.

A person who would like to utilize the Product Patent Certification service of the KPAA must first request a qualified patent attorney for a primary evaluation.  Thereafter, the patent attorney who conducted the primary evaluation may apply for the Product Patent Certification service to the KPAA.  After the certification examination by the KPAA, a certification mark and a certificate are issued. 

A certification mark that is issued by the KPAA varies depending on the number of patents related with the product.  A Gold Mark is issued for products utilizing 10 or more patents, a Silver Mark is issued for products utilizing 4 to 9 patents, and a Bronze Mark is issued for products utilizing 3 patents or less.  The certification is valid for two years, and can be extended by one year only once.

The chairman of the KPAA stated that “Product Patent Certification is not to guarantee the quality of the products, but to prevent consumers’ damage caused by the recent increase in false patent labeling” and “it is expected that it will greatly contribute to enhancing the reliability of patented products by evaluating and certifying the application of patent technologies by an expert organization.”

As the KPAA, which has public confidence in intellectual property rights, objectively confirms and certifies whether the patent technologies have been applied to products on sale, it is expected that consumer damage due to reckless patent false labeling will be reduced.  Further, companies that have many patent rights will be able to effectively demonstrate their technological prowess compared to their competitors by actively utilizing Product Patent Certification.