1. The ‘trademark image examination technique standards’ of the Korean Intellectual Property Office (KIPO) have been adopted as the standards of the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO)
The KIPO’s trademark image examination technique standards have been adopted as the WIPO’s standards thereof.
According to a KIPO’s report dated December 25, 2007, the trademark image examination technique standards presented in the 8th Information Standardization Meeting in March 2007 have been adopted as the technique standards for the ‘WIPO Guideline Version 1.0 of Electronic Management of Trademark Image’ after passing through the agreement of the WIPO’s member nations.
The standards presented by the KIPO are related to methods of electronically storing a trademark image and displaying and managing the trademark image, which cover a guideline of an electronic image format and size, a guideline of an electronic image capture, a procedural guide of modifying a rejected electronic image and an image.
As the KIPO’s standards are adopted as the WIPO’s standards, it is expected that the worldwide patent offices will use the trademark image examination standards based on the standards presented by the KIPO, for their own trademark examination.
JongHyub CHOI, the director of the Information Planning Team of the KIPO, said, “the KIPO plan to make an effort in order for the technology standards in the fields of the patents and the international patents (under Patent Cooperation Treaty: PCT), which are developed by the Republic of Korea, to be adopted as the international standards.
2. The number of international trademark applications under the Madrid System is rapidly increasing
Under the Madrid International Trademark System, there has been a rapid increase in the number of international trademark applications filed with the KIPO by foreign companies to obtain trademark rights.
According to the KIPO’s data, the number of the Madrid international trademark applications was 3,011 in 2003 which is the first year when the Republic of Korea became a member of the Madrid Agreement. However, the number of the Madrid international trademark applications was 9,789 in 2004, 12,746 in 2005 and 17,484 in 2006 and is expected to be more than 20,000 in 2007.
Classified by countries, Germany filed the most trademark applications with 12,556, followed by France with 5,966, the U.S.A. with 5,700, Switzerland with 5,534, Italy with 5,494 and Japan with 3,646.
Classified by companies, Deutsche Telekom of Germany filed the most trademark applications with 457, followed by Philips Electronics of the Netherlands with 134, Nestle of Switzerland with 100, Sanofi Aventis pharmaceutical company of France with 83, Japan Tobacco with 62 and Apple computer of the U.S.A. with 45.
3. Korea-China agreed to mutually dispatch intellectual property experts to both countries
The Republic of Korea and China agreed to mutually dispatch their intellectual property experts to both countries.
SanWoo Jun, the Commissioner of the KIPO, and Tian Lipu, the Commissioner of the State Intellectual Property Office of the People’s Republic of China (SIPOPRC), had the 13th discussion by the Commissioners of KIPO and SIPOPRC at Tirol Hotel in Muju, Jeolabukdo on December 13, 2007, where the two commissioners agreed to mutually dispatch the intellectual property experts between the two countries.
In the future, the KIPO plans to send the intellectual property experts to China, so that the Korean companies are able to receive counsel regarding the infringement of intellectual property rights in China.
Investigated and analyzed data of actual conditions of infringement of the Korean intellectual property rights in China will be used for establishing strategies of intellectual property rights against China and for preparing support plans for Korean companies.
Further, both Korea and China agreed to hold an expert meeting for patents and information to strengthen the cooperation in the field of patent and information and to open the Korea-China design publications to the public to prevent companies from dually developing designs.
SangWoo JUN said, “For the latest several years, Korea and China have been rapidly rising as the countries that have filed the most applications for industrial property rights. Therefore, the two countries are expected to be able to lead the development in the field of intellectual property rights by reinforcing the cooperation between the two countries.”
4. The KIPO expected to build the information of 150,000,000 intellectual property cases
On December 29, 2007, the KIPO announced that they would build an information database of domestic and foreign intellectual property rights reaching 157,000,000 cases by the end of 2007, to enhance the quality of examination.
To this end, obtaining the data of patents, utility models, designs and trademarks from 27 countries including the U.S.A, Europe, Japan and others in the world upon occasion, the KIPO would build the information database of intellectual property rights.
The number of domestic and foreign intellectual property rights which have been entered by the KIPO into the information database built by the KIPO as of the end of October 2007 is 156,000,000 cases, with an increase of 11,000,000 cases compared to 145,000,000 cases in the end of 2006. The number was expected to increase by adding 1,000,000 cases by the end of 2007.
The information database of intellectual property rights is used as materials for examination on whether there is any prior art of an intellectual property right of a filed application. This information is also provided to the public through the free search service of patent information (www.kipris.or.kr).
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