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KIPO held a policy meeting with the council of the director of a national university industry-academic cooperation group and the chief of a research office.(News Letter No. 554) |
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KH |
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2025-06-16 |
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1. KIPO held a policy meeting with the council of the director of a national university industry-academic cooperation group and the chief of a research office.
- KIPO included a university’s field voices in the policy of commercializing intellectual property (IP).
- They gathered and discussed opinions related to the IP transaction and commercialization policy and the patent examination system improvement.
KIPO and the council (president: Cheolsung JANG) of the director of a national university industry-academic cooperation group and the chief of a research office held a policy meeting to improve the IP transition, commercialization and patent system.
This meeting was arranged to establish and promote an effective policy by gathering the field’s various opinions relating to the improvement of the public IP commercialization support project and the patent examination system.
In the meeting, KIPO announced the direction of reorganization of the public IP commercialization support project by supporting the recruitment of IP experts by the university industry-academia cooperation group from this year and by providing integrated support for creation and utilization of IP and reinvestment of profits, etc. KIPO also announced the major changes and improvement directions regarding the patent act, such as the preferential examination system to early secure an excellent patent, etc. University officials suggested supporting the establishment of infrastructure to strengthen the IP management capabilities in universities, and expanding support for funding the commercialization of patented technology and for networking among excellent institutions for IP commercialization.
2. KIPO visited an entertainment agency, SM.
- KIPO checked the status of response to an infringement of a right of publicity and discussed protection measures.
KIPO visited SM Entertainment to directly listen to voices from an entertainment agency managing the right of publicity of an artist and to seek support measures. This field visit was arranged to check the entertainment agency’s actual state of utilizing and protecting the right of publicity and to listen to the related concerns after the introduction of the regulations to protect the right of publicity.
◈ (Right of publicity) means a right to commercially use a name, portrait, etc. of another person who is widely recognized in the Republic of Korea, and when infringing the right of publicity, such an act falls under the act of unfair competition as specified in Article 2, Paragraph 1-(l) of the Unfair Competition Prevention and Trade Secret Protection Act.
※ The Unfair Competition Prevention Act protects the right of publicity by regulating the above act, not granting rights.
The amended Unfair Competition Prevention Act (effective in June 2022) defines an act of infringing on the right of publicity as one type of an unfair competition act and it provides that a right holder whose right to publicity has been infringed may request the court for prohibition and compensation for damages or may obtain remedies, such as corrective recommendations, orders, or publications, etc. through an administrative investigation. When a right holder requests the Korea Intellectual Property Protection Agency for protection of a right of publicity, KIPO plans to review support measures of monitoring or deleting online infringement products.
SM Entertainment as a representative company that has led various K-content including K-pop music has been continuously expanding the business areas in the global market, based on IP. This company has discovered and nurtured many artists, from the first idols including H.O.T., S.E.S., among the others, to the recent idols including aespa, RIIZE, and it has systematically managed the right of publicity to another person’s mark, such as trademark, name, portrait, etc. of each artist belonging to it, thereby contributing to the IP protection of K-content.
The commissioner of KIPO said, “infringement on the right of publicity in digital environment is recognized as a problem that threatens the trust across industries, beyond the infringement of artists’ rights and interests…KIPO will proactively respond to an unfair competition act of infringing on the right of publicity and also work to raise public awareness.”
3. KIPO operated an online course of ‘KIPO-WIPO trademark law, examination and brand strategies.’
- WIPO conducted online education course on trademark law, examination and brand strategies for 30 countries.
- This course was arranged to share trademark examination know-how, brand value creation and protection strategies.
Together with WIPO, the International Intellectual Property Training Institute (IIPTI) of KIPO jointly operated the online education course, ‘KIPO-WIPO trademark law, examination and brand strategies’, from May 19 to 23, 2025, to strengthen the IP capabilities of experts in the trademark field.
This year, the trademark experts in the various areas, such as trademark examiners, companies, universities, research institutes, etc. from 30 countries, attended the education course. Notably, the trademark experts from the countries (China, India and Vietnam) with close economic cooperation with South Korea attended to gain an understanding of Korean trademark law and brand strategies, so that it is expected to have a positive impact on trade and investment activation between South Korea and each of these countries in the long run.
The various topics covered in the education course were based on the Korean developed trademark law and examination know-how as follows: ▲ the features of the Korean trademark system and the current status of examination, ▲ the trends of global trademark laws and the major issues, ▲ the malicious trademark applications and the defense strategies thereof, ▲ the cases of trademark judgement and litigation, and ▲ the successive branding and brand protection strategies, etc. Specifically, by sharing the cases of trademark infringement which may occur in overseas markets and the protection plans thereof, it was expected to strengthen the participants’ ability to secure future trademark competitiveness in a rapidly changing global market environment and to serve as an important foothold to seek effective brand strategies.
The dean of IIPTI said, “this education will not only strengthen the competitiveness of each brand but also be of practical help in preventing Korean companies’ difficulties related to trademarks which they may experience when entering overseas markets and in promoting cooperation with local partners… we will positively support for Korean original brands so as to become more successful in global markets, by strengthening an individual country’s IP capability through the international education and expanding global cooperation with countries.”
4. KIPO’s industrial property dispute mediation committee celebrating its 30th anniversary strengthens a dispute resolution function through mediation.
- This dispute mediation committee plays the role of an IP dispute resolution agent for individuals and small and medium companies.
KIPO held a ceremony to commemorate the 30th anniversary of the launch of the industrial property dispute mediation committee (hereinafter, referred to as the ‘committee’).
Industrial property dispute mediation is a system that resolves disputes related to IP, such as patents, trademarks, trade secrets, etc., through dialogue and agreement between the parties involved, with the help of experts. This system serves as means of dispute resolution in lieu of litigation since it allows for quick and economical dispute resolution and it has the same ‘judicial reconciliation’ effect as the final judgement when the mediation is established.
The ceremony, where about 100 people including the commissioner of KIPO, the chief justice of Seoul Central District Court, the president of Korea Intellectual Property Protection Agency and the members of the committee attended, was arranged to celebrate the 30th anniversary, look back on past achievements and seek measures to improve the mediation system to strengthen the dispute resolution function.
In the ceremony, rewards were also given to the members of the committee, who successfully led to a dispute settlement between the parties, based on technical and legal expertise.
The number of cases requesting industrial property dispute mediation in 1995, which was the first year of the committee’s launch, was only 4 but it continued to rapidly increase to 57 in 2017, 83 in 2021 and 160 in 2024, to have established itself as the means of resolving IP disputes of companies.
Specifically, the results of analyzing the status of using the industrial property dispute mediation system over the last 10 years (2015~2024) are as follows:
▲ (Of those that used this system,) individuals and small and medium companies requesting the dispute mediation were 91% (697 cases), indicating high use by individuals and small and medium companies to avoid relatively high costs and time burden due to disputes.
▲ (Of subjects of dispute meditation,) the trademark and design cases were the most received with 64% (491 cases) but the patent and trade secret-related dispute cases reached 23% (179 cases), thereby considering that this system was widely used in various intellectual property fields.
▲ (Of duration,) since it took an average of 79 days from receipt of the request to processing, it was considered that the case was processed about 5 to 8 times faster than a lawsuit.
▲(Of establishment rate of dispute mediation,) it was found that the disputes were resolved effectively since if both parties agreed to mediation, more than half (62%) mediation were established. Even though IP disputes were complex disputes requiring the judgment of technology similarity and infringement of rights, etc., as a result of actively utilizing expertise of the committee, the establishment rate of mediation was more than 30%, compared to a general mediation system.
5. KIPO and Korea Institute for Advancement of Technology (KIAT) held a policy meeting for joint technology commercialization.
- Voices from the field of technology commercialization are connected to policy.
KIPO, KIAT and the people in the technology commercialization industry held a policy meeting for creating an ecosystem of demand-driven technology transfer and commercialization.
This meeting was arranged to discuss policy directions and cooperation measures between KIPO and KIAT as agreement bodies since a ‘technology commercialization alliance’ was launched (March 10, 2025) and to come up with effective policy alternatives by gathering various opinions from the field of technology commercialization.
The technology commercialization alliance is pan-ministerial industry, academia and research network built to create the technology transfer and commercialization ecosystem for technology-demanding companies.
Starting with the introduction of a support project for KIPO and KIAT technology transaction and commercialization, this meeting proceeded with listening to and answering suggestions from participating companies. The participating companies suggested to prepare a global technology commercialization program, to expand incentives and roles for private technology trading institutions, to strengthen support for connection in full cycle of technology commercialization, from technology transfer to market entry, etc.
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