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Korean Intellectual Property Office (KIPO) makes database including about 160,000,000 world patent techniques (144) |
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2008-05-16 |
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1. Korean Intellectual Property Office (KIPO) makes database including about 160,000,000 world patent techniques
According to KIPO (Commissioner: Sangwoo JUN), KIPO built the patent technological database covering all of the latest patent techniques of major countries, so as to be used for patent examination work and technological information available to the public.
For these purposes, KIPO has promoted the ‘Patent Information DB Building Project’ of regularly collecting, classifying and processing the patent technological data of 27 countries including the U.S.A., Europe, Japan among others. At present, the database has the technological information of about 160,000,000 cases. This level of the database content stands in equal comparison with the standards of advanced countries.
KIPO provides the public with the database of technological information through the KIPO homepage (www.kipo.go.kr ) or free search service of the Korea Institute of Patent Information (www.kipris.or.kr). During the latest 3 years, the rate of using the patent information service has increased by 30% or more per year and the cooperation from the industrial and research fields is high.
A spokesman of KIPO said that, “the patent information database arranges a huge amount of patent documentary records and is the background enabling the fastest examination process by the KIPO in the world. “ In addition, “KIPO will place emphasis on improvement in the quality of the patent information data, together with the growth in the quantity thereof.
2. Phicom won vs. FormFactor of the U.S.A. in a patent trial
Phicom (CEO: Ougki LEE, www.phicom.com), a company specializing in semiconductor and display testing equipments, won in an original trial for prohibiting a patent infringement, which was brought by FormFactor.
According to the decision made by Civil 11th Division (Executive Judge: Hyungmyung PARK) of Seoul Southern District Court, the manufacturing method of Phicom is different from the patent of FormFactor and therefore does not infringe the patent of FormFactor. Accordingly, the decision dismissed the allegation of FormFactor that Phicom infringed FormFactor’s two patents relating to the probe manufacturing methods.
When Phicom released the MEMS card independently developed by investing more than 40,000,000,000 Korea Won in 2003, FormFactor brought a patent invalidation trial against Phicom in the next year, 2004, so that disputes between two companies started. Phicom counteracted the patent invalidation trial. As a result, among FormFactor’s four patents, two patents were decided to be invalidated by the Korean Supreme Court’s final decision in September, 2007.
As for one of the other two cases, after it was decided to be invalidated by the decision of the Patent Court, it is pending in the Supreme Court. The present trial was a trial for prohibiting the patent infringement, to determine whether or not there was infringement, which was different from the two remaining cases, i.e., trial for invalidation.
Phicom explained that this decision is the result of approving their own originality, as the probe card manufacturing method was selected as one of the Korean top ten new technologies. Ougki LEE said, “the exhausting patent trials pending for the last four years is almost to the end” and “Phicom will do the best to maximize the business capability in the testing equipment market from now on”. In line with the good conditions of the semiconductor MEMS card business and the LCD testing equipment business, Phicom sets a goal of 100,000,000,000 Korea Won in sales in 2008, with an increase by 50% or more compared to the sales of 2007.
3. ZigBee advancing the intelligent home network era
- the number of patent applications related to ZigBee is increasing for the latest three years
As people’s interest in the home network and ubiquitous network has been greatly increasing, the number of the patent applications related to ZigBee, one of the near-distance wireless communication technologies, increased from 3 in 2002 to 462 in 2007.
ZigBee which is one of the IEEE 802.15.4 standards supporting near-distance communication is the technology for the near-distance communication and ubiquitous computing within 10 to 20 m in the wireless networking field. Although ZigBee is similar to a mobile phone or wireless LAN in terms of the concept, it has the concept of communicating a small amount of information while minimizing power consumption, unlike the existing technologies. The name of ZigBee is the compound word of “bee” and “zigzag”, based on the association that the efficient near-distance wireless communication is like the bees flying in a zigzag form among flowers.
In view of the tendency of the patent applications related to ZigBee, since ZigBee is advantageous by its low-cost, low-power and ultra small-size standard but has a drawback in its low-speed transfer, ZigBee has been filed in relation to the home network for controlling general home equipment or the techniques needing simple control. ZigBee is less noticed compared to Bluetooth or UWB (ultra-wideband). However, when inexpensive ZigBee is used to replace the wireless communication technology otherwise requiring high expenses such as Bluetooth, ZigBee reduced cost and price competitiveness would be an advantage. Therefore, the number of application fields and products using ZigBee is expected to increase.
4. Samsung Electronics and Matsushita agreed to cancel the patent trial
According to Samsung Electronics (CEO: Jongyoung YOUN) on April 1, 2008, the Texas Eastern District Court of the U.S.A. made the final decision to cancel a semiconductor-related patent infringement trial brought by Matsushita, a Japanese company. Prior to the final decision, in January 2008, the two companies concluded the mutual co-ownership agreement of a semiconductor-relate patent. In the agreement, the two companies agreed to co-own the relevant patent for ten years to the end of January 2018 and terminated the relevant patent dispute. Meantime, the two companies had patent trials relating to the semiconductor technology in New Jersey and Texas in the U.S.A., Japan and other areas since 2002.
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Korean Intellectual Property Office (KIPO) has started electronic payment services for official fees (143)
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