IV. Amendment to Patented Claim
Amendment Trial and Invalidation Trial
Under the Korean Patent Act, the Patent Trial Tribunal has an exclusive jurisdiction of invalidation of and/or amendment to patented claims as the first instance tribunal.
When an invalidation trial is initiated by a competitor, the patentee often finds his claims are too broad to be recognized as valid ones. Then, the patentee may request a trial for amendment of claims before the Patent Trial Tribunal.
In the past, however, during the trial for amendment of patented claims was conducted before one trial board, the invalidation trial board, which was not necessarily the same board hearing amendment of claims, usually waited for the holdings of the amendment trial. This has been one reason of delay in invalidation trial proceedings and, in many cases, related patent infringement proceedings.
Under the new law, the patentee whose claim(s) is contested during an invalidation proceeding shall request to amend the contested claim(s) before the board which is hearing the invalidation trial, as a kind of a defense to invalidation request. This limitation on the forum for hearing patentee's request for amendment to patented claims will expedite the procedures for patent invalidation and infringement disputes. (Art. 133 bis)

Not Applicable to Proceedings before the Patent Court
Above limitation on the forum for trial for amendment of patent claims is applicable to the proceedings before the Patent Trial Tribunal, the first instance court, and the opposition proceedings before a panel of Patent Examiners. When the invalidation decision of the Patent Trial Tribunal is appealed to the Patent Court, the second instance court, the patentee is free to request to amend his claims at the Patent Trial Tribunal (Art. 136 bis)