A Review of Korean Competition Law and Guidelines for Exercise of Standardrelated Patents

The purpose and main scope of this paper is to focus on the types of specific conduct with potential issues, the standards for them, and the applicable factors to be considered that were provided with respect to the exercise of patent rights-related technology standards in the Review Guidelines on the Unfair Exercise of Intellectual Property Right (IPR Guidelines), review the methods to identify the types of such conduct and relevance of such proposed standards, and propose alternatives thereto. This paper concludes with suggestions as follows: Firstly, the Korea Fair Trade Commission (KFTC) will use its guidelines as a primary framework to enforce the Monopoly Regulation and Fair Trade Act (MRFTA) by the KFTC officials even though it has no legislative basis; therefore, it is very important to carefully review its contents. Secondly, in order to regulate non-disclosure of relevant patent technology under the MRFTA, the IPR Guidelines needs to specifically provide that both the intent and effect of the non-disclosure on the standard setting process are required. Thirdly, provisions on imposing unreasonable or discriminatory royalties should be improved to take necessary considerations into account, provide specific factors or standards under the special circumstances where the patented technology is included in a standard. Fourthly, whether procedures for the disclosure of patent information and the ex ante negotiation for licensing terms have been complied with, which are provided as important factors to be considered in judging illegality, does not bear causation or close relationship with the violation of the MRFTA and failure to comply with such procedures should not be considered more seriously than other factors. Lastly, the standard for determining whether an FRAND-encumbered SEP holders filing for injunctive relief may be anti-competitive can be considered acceptable compared with the recent practical developments in other jurisdictions

Merger Regulations under the Korean Competition Law - Based on M&A Review Guidelines and KFTCs Decisions -

As a general rule, the Monopoly Regulation and Fair Trade Act prohibits mergers restricting competition in a given area of trade, mergers achieved through coercion or any other unfair methods, or those consummated by way of acts of evasion of law. Acting either on its own authority or a notification by a company involved in the merger, the Korea Fair Trade Commission examines in detail whether the merger in question falls under the proscribed categories above. The M&A Review Guidelines, then, set a concrete standard to be used in assessing a merger

First Report of Leaf Spot in Fischer's Ragwort Caused by

During disease surveys from 2019 to 2021, the authors frequently encountered leaf spot symptoms on Fischer's ragwort plants growing at fields at six locations of Gangwon Province, Korea. The symptoms displayed brown to dark brown, circular or irregular spots on the plant leaves. The disease surveys at the six locations revealed 1–90% of diseased leaves of the plants. Phoma sp. was dominantly isolated from the diseased leaf lesions. Seven single-spore isolates of the fungus were selected and identified as Didymella ligulariae by investigation of their cultural, morphological, and molecular characteristics. Artificial inoculation test to Fischer's ragwort leaves was conducted with three isolates of D. ligulariae. The inoculation test revealed that the tested isolates cause leaf spot symptoms in the plants similar to the natural ones. The fungal pathogen has never been reported to cause leaf spot in Fischer's ragwort. Leaf spot of Fischer's ragwort caused by D. ligulariae is first reported in this study

Role of core needle biopsy as a first-line diagnostic tool for thyroid nodules: a retrospective cohort study

Purpose The purpose of this study was to evaluate the diagnostic efficacy of fine-needle aspiration (FNA), core needle biopsy (CNB), and combined FNA/CNB for the first-line diagnosis of thyroid nodules. Methods A total of 782 consecutive nodules that underwent simultaneous FNA and CNB were analyzed in this study. We compared the rate of inconclusive results and the diagnostic values for malignancy among FNA, CNB, and combined FNA/CNB. Results CNB showed a lower rate (10.2%) of inconclusive results than FNA (23.7%) (P<0.001). Combined FNA/CNB showed a lower rate (6.5%) of inconclusive results than FNA (all nodules, P<0.001; macronodules, P<0.001; and micronodules, P<0.001, respectively) or CNB (all nodules, P<0.001; macronodules, P<0.001; and micronodules, P=0.003, respectively). Combined FNA/CNB and CNB showed significantly higher sensitivity, accuracy, and diagnostic performance for malignancy as defined by criterion 1 (Bethesda category VI) or criterion 2 (Bethesda categories IV/V/VI) than FNA (P<0.001). However, there was no significant difference in the sensitivity, accuracy, or diagnostic performance between combined FNA/CNB and CNB (with criterion 1, P=0.063, P=0.063, and P=0.412, respectively; with criterion 2, P=0.500, P=0.500, and P=0.348, respectively). Conclusion CNB was found to be more effective than FNA for the diagnosis of thyroid nodules, and its sensitivity and diagnostic performance for malignancy were similar to those of combined FNA/CNB. CNB has the potential to be an effective alternative first-line diagnostic tool for thyroid nodules when performed by an experienced operator

Complete response to FOLFOX4 therapy in a patient with advanced urothelial cancer: a case report

No standard has been established for salvage therapy in gemcitabine refractory advanced urothelial cancer. We report the complete response to FOLFOX4 therapy of a metastatic urothelial cancer patient, for whom adjuvant gemcitabine plus cisplatin combination chemotherapy had failed. A 54-year-old male patient with urothelial cancer (transitional cell carcinoma) in the right kidney underwent three rounds of adjuvant gemcitabine-cisplatin chemotherapy after extensive radical nephrectomy. However, he had new liver, lung metastases and synchronous two separate primary colon cancer. The lung metastasis lesion was confirmed as a metastatic urothelial cancer via percutaneous transthoracic needle biopsy (PTNB). Liver and lung metastasis lesions disappeared after the 4th cycle of FOLFOX4 chemotherapy. In addition, colon cancer also disappeared after the 8th cycle of FOLFOX4 chemotherapy. The patient was still showing a complete response after 4 months. Clinical trials using the FOLFOX regimen as salvage therapy for gemcitabine-refractory advanced urothelial cancer are warranted