[비즈한국] Following the final invalidation of a patent jointly filed by the Gyeongnam Office of Education and another company based on a small business's technology, the education office had its bank deposits seized for failing to pay 7.68 million won in litigation costs on time. The Supreme Court had confirmed that the patent was filed without the legal right to do so, as it was based on technology provided during the development of the education platform 'i-TokTok.' It was confirmed that the Gyeongnam Office of Education only paid the costs after the court issued a seizure and collection order.
According to Bizhankook’s report on the 21st, the Changwon District Court issued an order on the 2nd to seize and collect 7,682,137 won from the Gyeongnam Office of Education's NongHyup Bank account. This was due to the education office’s failure to pay the litigation costs owed to the small edutech firm 'Arist' after losing the patent rights dispute. The Gyeongnam Office of Education had jointly filed for the patent using technology developed by the firm, but the Supreme Court finalized the invalidation of the patent in January.
Dispute Related to Education Platform Project
In 2022, the Gyeongnam Office of Education jointly filed a patent with D Company, the contractor for the 'i-TokTok' education platform, leading to a rights dispute with the small edutech company Arist. Arist filed for a patent invalidation trial, claiming the patent was filed based on technology they had developed.
The Intellectual Property Trial and Appeal Board accepted Arist's claim and ruled the patent held by the Gyeongnam Office of Education and D Company invalid. The board determined that they had obtained information regarding Arist’s technology and filed for the patent without legally acquiring the rights to do so.
The Gyeongnam Office of Education and D Company appealed the decision, but the Patent Court dismissed both parties' claims. With the Supreme Court also dismissing their appeal, the patent invalidation was finalized in January.
It was later confirmed that the Gyeongnam Office of Education failed to pay the litigation costs due to Arist on time. Arist subsequently filed for a seizure and collection order against the education office. On the 2nd, the Changwon District Court decided to seize 7,682,137 won from the office's NongHyup Bank deposits and authorized Arist to collect the amount.
Lee Jong-hwan, CEO of Arist, stated, "We initiated the seizure process because they failed to pay the costs on time even after losing the lawsuit." It was confirmed that the Gyeongnam Office of Education paid the litigation costs only after the seizure and collection order was issued. The process to lift the seizure has not yet been completed.
Joint Patent Filing Amid Payment Conflict with Tech Developer
Prior to this, Arist participated in the Gyeongnam Office of Education’s 'i-TokTok' project. i-TokTok is an education platform that supports students' learning activities based on big data and artificial intelligence (AI). Arist participated in the first year of the i-TokTok project in 2021, taking on the 'KST-based learning analysis design' task from the main contractor, D Company.
D Company and Arist signed a business agreement in 2021, and Arist performed the work from February to October of that year. A formal service contract was only signed in November, after much of the work had already been completed. Arist provided the technical documents prepared during the learning analysis design process to D Company and the Gyeongnam Office of Education.
Conflict subsequently arose between the two parties over the payment of service fees. D Company refused to pay the balance, claiming Arist’s output was poor. They also filed for a provisional seizure of assets to recover the 171 million won already paid, arguing that the contract had been terminated.
While the payment dispute was ongoing, the Gyeongnam Office of Education and D Company jointly filed a patent in 2022 for a 'Learning location and path recommendation system and method based on knowledge space.' Although the patent was registered the following year, Arist, which participated in the technology development, was not listed as a patent holder.
Arist argued that the patent was filed based on technical data they developed and provided, and that they had never transferred the right to patent the technology to the Gyeongnam Office of Education or D Company. Consequently, they filed for an invalidation trial with the Intellectual Property Trial and Appeal Board.
Lee Jong-hwan, CEO of Arist, said, "We completed our assigned tasks and even passed final supervision, but we never received the remaining balance. During that process, we discovered that the technology we developed had been registered as a patent under the names of another company and the Gyeongnam Office of Education."
Bizhankook attempted to contact the Gyeongnam Office of Education several times to hear their position regarding the patent dispute and the delay in paying litigation costs, but received no response.
Meanwhile, the i-TokTok project has previously faced controversy over signs that a separate service contract was signed despite strict prohibitions on subcontracting at the time of bidding. There has also been ongoing criticism regarding whether the Gyeongnam Office of Education properly managed and supervised the development companies during the project.