1. KIPO provides support for overseas trial costs to individuals/small/medium companies
Korean Intellectual Property Office (KIPO; Commission: Sangwoo JUN) has promoted the project of supporting overseas trial costs in order to protect the industrial property rights of Korean companies which have advanced into foreign countries. This project has well performed as the helper to protect the technologies of Korean small/medium companies.
Unlike big companies, individual inventors or small/medium companies lack information and financial power. Therefore, when they are involved with trials in foreign countries, they have many difficulties.
As the number of the Korean companies extending their business abroad increases, there is an increase in the number of the companies having the difficulties due to the bottleneck of the intellectual property related management, such as infringement of an intellectual property right.
According to KIPO, the patent trail costs were supported in twenty-three (23) cases from 2006 to 2007. The amount as supported reached Korea Won 540,000,000 with respect to a total of twenty-three (23) cases. Classified by countries, the most trial cases are related to China with 56.5%. It is considered that Korean companies have actively advanced into China and the possibility of disputes is high in China. Classified by rights, the trials for patents are 52.2%.
According to KIPO, when Korean companies’ intellectual property rights are infringed abroad, there are many cases involving a relatively large number of the companies give up instituting trials due to the burden of trial costs. So, KIPO started the project of supporting overseas trial costs. This project is an ex post facto relief system to substantially help in law or money when the intellectual property rights of individuals and small/medium companies are infringed in foreign countries after registration.
2. Korea Mobile Broadcasting started the service of connecting to the wireless internet through an address window
On March 20, 2008, Korea Mobile Broadcasting (www.ukmb.co.kr), a mobile solution company, announced that, for the first time in the world, they would commercialize the ‘Open Mobile 4.0’ service from April 1, 2008. In the Open Mobile 4.0, it is possible to freely move a page through an address window in the mobile internet, like the wire internet (WEB). Korea Mobile Broadcasting explained, “the conventional mobile wireless internet service has the closed structure that it is difficult to move and search because of no address window. However, the Open Mobile 4.0 service has solved the absence of the address window, which has been indicated as the factor of obstructing the activation of the existing wireless internet.”
In the Open Mobile 4.0 service, for example, when a company name is input in Korean or English or a company telephone number is input in an address window, it moves to the corresponding WAP (wireless application protocol) page.
Korea Mobile Broadcasting holds four Korean patents related to this service and have the PCT international patent application(s) and patent applications filed in U.S., Japan, EU, and China.
Korea Mobile Broadcasting performs the reservation service for prior registration of a mobile address. This reservation service is to give a prior registration right of a Korean/English mobile address including a telephone number to an agency, a company, a group, the press, or the like before publicly registering the mobile address, thereby preventing damages caused by unfair prior occupation and reducing unnecessary disputes.
3. Patent dispute concerning the digital cinema
The digital cinema is a system for showing a movie without film. As the digital cinema market increases, a patent trial between the related companies has been instituted.
The digital cinema is a service for showing high-definition motion pictures to movie audiences, by storing a movie file being made in the digital mode and then transmitting the movie to a digital projector of a cinema through optical networks.
On March 16, 2008, it is reported that G-inno System, a Korean digital cinema system company, instituted a trial for prohibiting patent infringement against DCN Platform, a company related to a similar business, before the Seoul Central District Court. G-inno System allegedly asserted that DCN Platform infringed the patent of G-inno System.
According to Mr. Yusik KIM, a vice president of the G-inno System Media main office, the DCI Guide Version 1.0, which is the US Digital Cinema Standard published by Hollywood movie companies in July of 2005, is the technique earlier filed by the Republic of Korea. Therefore, Mr. KIM said that G-inno System would take a countermeasure when royalty is claimed.
4. LG Display secured the OLED technical cooperation of Eastman Kodak in the U.S.
- Mutual use of the OLED and relevant TFT patent technologies
LG Display started strengthening the competitiveness in the OLED (organic light-emitting diode) business, by the cooperation with Eastman Kodak having the major source technologies related to the OLED.
It is reported that LG Display secured a cross license agreement regarding the OLED and the relevant TFT (thin film transistor) technologies with Eastman Kodak on March 16, 2008.
Through the agreement, LG Display positively strengthens the OLED research, product development and production, by using the Kodak’s technologies including the main source patent techniques related to the OLED materials and processes.
Eastman Kodak is able to more smoothly progress the OLED research, supported with LG Display’s TFT technology required for the OLED research and development.
The two companies have steadily sought the earnest cooperation since they concluded the ‘mutual technological evaluation agreement’ in 2006. Through this agreement, the world top level TFT technology of LG Display and the main OLED source technology of Eastman Kodak are considered to have synergy.
Hyunhoi Ha, a vice president and director of the medium and small-size OLED business of LG Display, emphasized that the medium and small OLED business would be greatly helpful in coping with the market for the large OLED, such as TV and the like, in view of the middle and long term.
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