The Asian Patent Attomrneys Association Korea Group
The Asian Patent Attorneys Association (APAA) was established in 1969, with the goal and objective of fostering ties of mutual friendship and understanding among those who practice as professional patent attorneys in the Asia region, and through such ties, to promote the protection of intellectual property in the region.
In order to achieve the objects, the APAA holds meetings for members; establishes and maintains close contacts with various governmental, intergovernmental, and non-governmental organizations related to intellectual property; sends delegates to meetings held by such organizations; and investigates, studies, plans, proposes and assists improvements of international and national laws and regulations concerning intellectual property. The APAA now comprises 20 Recognized Groups and about 2,400 members. Each year, about 1,500 people attend APAA annual meetings, which may be a Council Meeting (annual meeting) or a General Assembly (held every two years). About two thirds of the participants are members, and about one third are observers from European countries, the U.S.A. and other non-member countries.
The Korea Group of the APAA is one of the three founding member Groups which established the APAA in 1969 (the other two are the Japan and Taiwan Groups.) The Korea Group was established on December 26, 1969, with 29 founding member patent attorneys. The Korea Group has developed consistently and now has over 300 members.
The Korea Group successfully hosted the 3rd Council Meeting of the APAA in 1970 (Seoul), the 8th to 10th Council Meetings and the 3rd General Assembly in 1974 (Seoul), the 28th and 29th Council Meetings and the 8th General Assembly in 1988 (Seoul), the 43rd Council Meeting in 1999 (Kyongju), and the 58th Council Meeting in 2010 (Jeju). The Korea Group will again host the APAA meeting in 2021 in Busan.
The Korea Group is active in promoting relations by exchanging and cooperating with other Groups. For example, the Korea Group Patents Committee, Trademarks Committee and Design Committee respectively hold annual joint meetings with their counterparts of the Japan Group. APAA Australia has also attended the Patents Committees’ joint meeting rendering it substantially an AU-KR-JP trilateral joint meeting.
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