USE OF EXPERTKNOWLEDGE IN CIVIL
LITIGATIONS
October 20, 2021
Presiding Judge at the Patent Court of Korea
SANG WOO KIM

Contents
1. Use of Expert Knowledge in litigations related to IP rights(1) Judicial Research Officers and Technical Examiners(2) Technical advisors(3) Expert witness(4) The parties’ active engagement in technical explanatory session

2. Other Civil litigations(1) Introduction of “the Standing Members of Technical Advisor Committee”

1. Use of Expert Knowledge in litigations related to IP rights(1) Judicial Research Officers and Technical Examiners▷ Introduction: The Patent Court of Korea has technical examiners
according to the Court Organization Act. The Patent Court and othercourts that require specialized examination on intellectual property rights
have judicial research officers.

▷An overview
Step 1: When a new case is filed and assigned, technical examiners/judicial research
officers are designated for a case.
Step 2: Once they are designated, they must submit a technical report explaining thetechnologies at issue or opinions on the technical issues prior to the trial date.
Step 3: The judicial panel, technical examiners/judicial research officers gather in ajudge's chamber before the trial date or pretrial hearing date to have an internal
discussion examining the technical issues based on the technical report. The discussion
typically lasts for about an hour.
Step 4: Technical examiners/judicial research officers submit their final opinions in writingon the overall case or a specific issue before the court renders the judgment.

1. Use of Expert Knowledge in litigations related to IP rights(2) Technical advisors▷ Introduction: A system designed for faithful hearing and prompt

resolution of disputes by listening to the opinions or explanations basedon professional knowledge and experiences of experts outside thecourt whose specialized knowledge is essential for cases related tointellectual property rights, architecture, medical care, environment,etc.

▷An overview
1) 657 candidates are enrolled as technical advisors in the Patent Court, having
expertise in patented technologies (such as machinery, electricity, electronics,telecommunications, construction, agriculture and forestry, chemistry, pharmaceuticals,etc.)
2) Technical advisors cannot take part in the in the deliberation process of the judicialpanel.
3) In practice, the technical advisor system is occasionally utilized ex officio or upon therequest of a party if there is no technical examiner or judicial research officer of thePatent Court who is well versed in a specific technical field, or if the technical content isparticularly complex.

4) The technical advisor system can be utilized together with or separately fromtechnical examiners/judicial research officers. A technical advisor can bedesignated while reviewing a new case or can be designated during theproceeding of a hearing. Designating a technical advisor based on the opinions ofthe parties and judicial research officers will help choose an expert who fits thecase.

1. Use of Expert Knowledge in litigations related to IP rights(3) Expert witness▷ Introduction: . Expert testimony follows the usual expert selection and witness
examination process according to the general principles of civil procedure. In

practice, in infringement litigations over patent and other IP rights, a party often
wants to produce expert testimony to analyze the level of a person having ordinary
skill in the art at the time of filing, contents of prior arts, composition analysis andcomparison of an infringing product, calculation of damages, and reasonableroyalties.

1. Use of Expert Knowledge in litigations related to IP rights(4) The parties’ active engagement in technical explanatory session▷ Introduction: Technical explanatory session is a procedure in which the parties or theircounsels are allowed to give an in-depth explanation of the technologies at issue on thedate of trial or pretrial hearing using a computer or a visual printer. It is recommended
that materials for oral arguments for technical explanation be submitted to the court

before the date of trial, and by adding the materials to the court record, they areclassified as litigation materials. On the date of the technical explanatory session, judges
can understand the technology more clearly compared to written explanations about

the technology because the parties bring the products related to the case and try toexplain or demonstrate the products.

2. Other Civil litigations(1) Introduction of “The Standing Members of Technical AdvisorCommittee”▷ Background: In March 2017, “The Standing Members of Technical Advisor Committee”system was established to solve the hassle of selecting professional technical advisors forcivil suits, and to improve efficiency in terms of accessibility and time for technicaladvisors.
▷ Overview: The Standing Members of Technical Advisor Committee are appointed by

the Minister of National Court Administration and stationed at the courts that they
belong to, and are paid a stable monthly wage. They cannot engage in any businessaiming at profit-making without permission from the Minister of National Court

Administration.

Thank you!