Yoon-bae KIM is a managing partner in the Seoul intellectual property law firm Kims and Lees. He has practiced intellectual property law for more than 30 years and specializes in mechanical patent prosecution and litigation, trademarks, unfair competition, trade secrets, and licensing.

He has a B.S. and M.S. from Seoul National University. He was Patent Counsel for the Korean Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KCCI), Vice-Chairman of the Anti-Counterfeiting Council of the Republic of Korea (ACCK-KCCI), Counsel Member of the Unfair Competition Prevention Deliberation Council of the Korean Intellectual Property Office (KIPO) and Council Member of the Computer Program Deliberation Council of the Ministry of Science and Technology. He has been a prolific author of books in the intellectual property field: Patent Administration, Guidebook for Patent Division of Corporations, Current Trends in Counterfeiting Practices and the Intellectual Property System in Korea, Trademark Guidebook for Foreign Filing and Registration, Case Studies in Trade Secrets and Industrial Espionage and Intellectual Assets. He also contributed an article ‘The Industrialization of Korea (1962 to 2002) from the patenting and licensing perspective’ in Licensing Best Practices published by John Wiley & Sons.

He has held the position of Chairman of the Anti-Counterfeiting Committee of the Asian Patent Attorneys Association (APAA). He served as president of AIPPI-Korea, as president of the Licensing Executive Society (LES) Korea, as Vice-President and Board Member of LES International, Inc. and as Chairman of the Patent and Technology Licensing Committee and the Pan Asian Committee of LES International. In 1997 he received an AIPPI Award of Merit and in 2004 he received an LES International Award of Achievement. He served as Vice-President of AIPPI from 2008 to 2010. In October 2010, he was elected President of AIPPI at the 42nd World Intellectual Property Congress in Paris.