Definitive Judgment on the Patent Infringement Suit Against the Music Simulation Game Device “EZ2DJ”
No. 07-008
July 31, 2007
KONAMI CORPORATION
KONAMI CORPORATION (hereafter, Konami) filed a lawsuit (hereafter, the lawsuit) in the district court of Seoul, Korea, on May 23, 2001 against Amuse World Corporation and Game World Corporation (both in Seoul, Korea; hereafter referred to together as “Amuse World”) alleging that the music simulation game device “EZ2DJ” (hereafter, the game device), which Amuse World manufactured and sold in Korea, infringed upon Konami’s patent (patent no. 294603; hereafter, the patent *1) and demanding a halt to the manufacture and sale of the game device and the payment of compensation*2 and damages.
The Seoul district court ruled on July 6, 2007 that there was indeed infringement of the game device patent and thereby ordered Amuse World Corporation to halt the patent infringement, to dispose of all finished and semi-finished infringing products, and to pay compensation and damages amounting to approximately 3.936 billion won. It also ordered Game World Corporation to pay approximately 7.851 billion won in compensation. The decisions handed down.
In October 1999, after the patent application was laid open in Korea, Amuse World was served a warning that its manufacture and sale of the game device amounted to an infringement on the patent. Amuse World nevertheless continued that manufacture and sale, and consequently Konami filed the lawsuit in May 2001 after the patent was registered.
Amuse World countered the lawsuit in June 2001 by petitioning the Korean Industrial Property Tribunal for an invalidation trial with regard to the patent, and the Industrial Property Tribunal handed down a decision in September 2002 that invalidated all independent claims regarding the patent. Konami therefore appealed to the Korean Patent Court to revoke the invalidation decision, and the case was argued in the Patent Court and in the Korean Supreme Court. Following the Patent Court’s remand decision on February 8, 2007 revoking the September 2002 invalidation decision, the Industrial Property Tribunal issued a new ruling on April 26, 2007 upholding the patent on the basis that the petition by Amuse World was groundless.
This ruling bears great significance for not only Korea but also the East Asian region as a whole, in that it verifies that intellectual property rights will be duly protected in the Korean game industry. Konami will continue striving to ensure that intellectual property rights are respected and duly protected.
*1
An application was submitted to the Korean Intellectual Property Office for this patent on September 16, 1998, as an invention called “music simulation game device and operation guidance system for music simulation.” The application was laid open on April 26, 1999, and a final decision on its registration was received on April 18, 2001.
*2
Under Korean patent law, parties may request “compensation” from the infringing party for infringement taking place during the period between the time that a patent application is laid open and the time that a final decision on its registration is received.
