YOON&YANG

Keun Woo Lee Partner

TEL 82 2 6003 7558
FAX 82 2 6003 7031
E-MAIL klee@hwawoo.com

Keun Woo Lee is a partner and head of the New Project Group at Yoon & Yang LLC, and his main practice areas are issues related to intellectual property (IP) and new technology, such as intellectual property rights, privacy and information security, TMT, AI, virtual assets, and ESG compliance.
After completing the necessary training at the Judicial Training and Research Institute, Mr. Lee has advised and represented various clients in disputes related to intellectual property rights. For example, he was involved in the drafting of the amendments to the Protection of Communications Secrets Act, and handled the trade secret infringement case involving SK Hynix, Toshiba and Sand Disk; the trademark dispute involving Kumho Petrochemical; the patent dispute related to a lithium-ion renewable battery separator; the patent dispute related to an automatic waste collection facility; the litigation seeking invalidation of patent relating to the drug “Plavix”; the patent dispute related to the automatic reservation system of express buses; the copyright infringement case between a terrestrial broadcasting company and a cable broadcasting company; the copyright infringement case between 47 major film companies and web storage service providers; and the copyright infringement case involving an online portal service provider. Mr. Lee also advised and represented clients, such as Jinro (unfair competition case) and Yuhan (compensation for employee’s invention), advised on issues related to the Act on the Protection of Information and Communications Network Utilization and Information Protection, and advised term-based telecommunication service providers as well as IT companies on any legal issues in their line of work.

In addition, Mr. Lee was closely involved in handling civil & criminal disputes on trademark infringement (stealing core technology) and formulating pre/post-countermeasures; checking privacy compliance issues; developing pre/post-countermeasures relating to intellectual property infringement; and conducting education on prevention of material information leakage (including privacy infringement) and due diligence relating to the same. Based on his accumulated experience, Mr. Lee assists clients in the development of a comprehensive compliance system related to intellectual property rights, information security, and compliance, including issues related to trade secrets, employee inventions, protection of intellectual property, protection of personal information, and compliance.

For his contribution and efforts in the protection of industrial technology, Mr. Lee received the Minister of Trade, Industry and Energy Award in October 2017 and November 2022. Furthermore, in preparing for the era of the fourth industrial revolution, Mr. Lee currently handles a wide range of tasks related to new technology (i.e., AI, autonomous driving, drones, 5G, 3D printing, IoT, Big Data, cyber security, GDPR, and block chain), and actively participates in the AI Legislation Task Force led by the Ministry of Science and ICT, the Autonomous Driving Integration & Convergence Future Forum organized by the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, and the Technology Security Forum organized by the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy, in order to contribute to reshaping the legal system related to new technologies.

Experience

2006-present Yoon & Yang LLC
2023-present Legal Advisor, Personal Information Protection Committee
2023-present Member, ESG Special Committee, Korean Bar Association
2022-present Member, Korean Association for Industrial Security
2020-present Arbitrator, Korea Commercial Arbitration Board
2020-present Member, Legislative Research Group (related to digital integration platform)
2020-present Member of the AI Legislation Group, Ministry of Science and ICT
2020-present Member, Private Sector Committee, Autonomous Driving Integration & Convergence Future Forum, Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport
2019-present Member, Joint Government Legal Assistance Group (related to Access to genetic resources and Benefit-Sharing)
2019-present Member, Industrial Technology Dispute Mediation Committee, Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy
2017-present Appraiser, Korean Patent Attorneys Association
2017-present Member, Korea Information Law Society
2017-present Expert Member (Instructor), Trade Secret Protection, Industrial Technology Protection Association
2016-present Online Instructor, Trade Secret Protection, The Lawtimes
2016-present Instructor, Trade Secrets, Korea Patent Information Service
2016-present Advisor, Overseas Small and Medium Enterprises Legal Advisory Group, Ministry of Justice
2014-present Member, Patent System Committee, Korea Patent Attorneys Association
2021-23 Member, Committee for Protecting Researcher Rights and Interests, Ministry of Science and ICT
2021 Member, Smart City Personal Information Protection Guideline Research Group, Personal Information Protection Committee
2018-20 Legislative Director, Korean Association for Industrial Security
2018-20 Member of Committee on Case Law Commentary, The Lawtimes
2018 Member, Special Committee on Intellectual Property Right, Korea Patent Attorneys Association
2018 Advisor, Intellectual Property Committee, Women Enterprise Supporting Center
2012-13 Lee, Hong, Degerman, Kang & Waimey, Los Angeles
2011 Member, Intellectual Property Rights Committee, Seoul Bar Association
2007-09 Member, Intellectual Property Rights Committee, Korea Bar Association

Education

2012 University of Southern California Gould School of Law, LL.M.
2006 Seoul National University School of Law (LL.M. course completion)
2006 Judicial Research and Training Institute
2002 Seoul National University, LL.B.

Representative Matters

Handled ESG and compliance issues for Hyundai Motor, Kia, SBS, SKC, Hite Jinro, SK Shielders, and LG L&H
Represented SK Innovation in the dispute with LG Chem over renewable battery
Conducted information security (privacy) inspections and provided relevant education for financial companies and savings banks
Advised and handled NFT/block chain projects for a number of client companies
Handled the review of issues related to generative AI for a number of client companies
Represented SK Hynix in a trade secret infringement case against Toshiba and SanDisk
Represented Kumho Petrochemical in a trademark dispute with Kumho Industrial
Represented terrestrial broadcasters including KBS in copyright infringement and retransmission claims against cable SO
Represented terrestrial broadcasters including KBS in a copyright infringement claim against My TV
Represented 47 major film companies and producers, including CJ, in copyright infringement claims against major web storage service providers
Represented CJ and Mnet in a music copyright infringement claim against Soribada
Represented Qualcomm against KFTC’s claim of abuse of market power
Represented SKT in connection with issues concerning network connection fees between KT and a key operator
Represented SK Innovation in a secondary battery separator patent case against Tonen Corporation
Represented Siemens in a patent infringement case in connection with an automatic garbage collection facility in a large apartment complex
Represented Hanmi Pharmaceutical in a patent case related to Plavix medicine
Advised Yuhan Corporation, Siemens, and Intel on revising employee invention compensation rules related to
Advised foreign pharmaceutical companies on submitting information to the KFTC
Represented Jinro in connection with Chamisul-related compensation for employee inventions
Represented various publishers including Goldstar Textbook, Hyeongseol Publishing Co., and Gyohaksa in copyright infringement cases
Represented the Express Bus Association in a patent dispute regarding the Express Bus Automatic Reservation System
Represented BackJoy in a patent invalidation case
Advised MS and YAHOO in matters related to the Information and Communications Network Act
GM and KISA on personal information protection related matters concerning domestic and foreign companies and organizations, including issues relating to the cloud, personal information due diligence, and follow-up measures to
Provided technology protection training for companies in Vietnam
Provided training on CSO technology protection and technology protection education for CEOs of small and medium-sized companies
Provided CISO personal information and trade secrets protection organized by KSIA
Provided training for cyber security top expert certification course established by the Ministry of National Defense
Advised on the establishing a job hub site for women
small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) network on technology commercialization
Prepared amendments to the Communications Secrets Security Act

Awards

Commended External Counsel, Asian-Mena Counsel (2019)

Publications

[Books]

Digital Economy and Platforms: Dominance, Data, Fair Trade and Consumer Protection, Korea Fair Competition Federation (Co-author, 2023)
Practical ESG Management, Maeil Business News Korea (Co-author, 2023)
Virtual Assets A to Z, Korea Economic Daily (Co-author, 2022)
Introduction to Climate Finance (Taxonomy part), Heute Books (Co-author, 2022)

[Journals]

Regular contribution to the “Law and Smart” columns, The Lawtimes (2017-2023)
Regular contribution to information security-related columns, Igloo PLUS Monthly (July 2023 - December 2023)
Korea Chapter, Measuring the ESG impact and valuation in South Korea, Asia ESG Report, International Financial Law Review (Co-author, 2022)
Artificial Intelligence & Personal Information Protection in Korea, In-House Community Magazine, InHouse Community (Co-author, 2021)
Korea Chapter, Achieving green goals and legal compliance in South Korea, Asia ESG Report, International Financial Law Review (Co-author, 2021)
Amendments to three data privacy laws in Korea and the implications, Data + Cyber Security Special Report, Asian-Mena Counsel, Pacific Business Press (Co-author, 2020)
Copying the names and menus of famous restaurants - Seoul Central District Court, 2019 Gahap 526830, decided on November 21, 2019, Law Newspaper Case Law Commentary (January 2020)
Warning letter for illegal infringement of intellectual property rights - Patent Court 2017Na2424 ruling, Legal Newspaper case law commentary (April 2019)
Can a person who has received an implementation license also request an invalidation trial? - 2017 Hu 2819 en banc ruling, Legal Newspaper precedent commentary (March 2019)
Korea Chapter, e-Commerce, Getting the Deal Through, Law Business Research (Co-author, 2016-2018)
Comparison of EU GDPR with domestic laws on financial information regulation, BFL, Seoul National University Financial Law Center (December 2018)
Contributed to the main contents of the GDPR, the revision of the GDPR and the Information and Communications Network Act, etc., Korea Herald (2018. 9. 13, 2018. 10. 6)
Preparation for domestic companies for GDPR, Secu N, Tech World (June 2018)
Use of medical Big data in healthcare industry of South Korea, Digital Health Legal (2018. 4)
Is blockchain a safe technology, Secu N, Tech World (2018. 4)
Is Jeju Olle a remarkable geographical name? Legal Newspaper Case Law Commentary (December 2017)
SUM Mark use relations - 2016 Gahap 574227 lawsuit ruling on trademark infringement ban claim, Law Newspaper precedent commentary (2017. 9)
When do counterfeit sales cause confusion?, International Briefings, Managing Intellectual Property (Co-author, 2013)