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Meeting of the patent office commissioners from 5 advanced countries (155)

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KH

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2008-11-04

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1. Meeting of the patent office commissioners from 5 advanced countries

- In the meeting of the commissioners from the patent offices of 5 advanced countries, agreement was reached to promote 10 projects together

As the number of worldwide patent applications increases, a backlog of patent examination and a deterioration of examination quality are international problems. However, an important breakthrough to solve these problems is being prepared. The meeting was held in Jeju-island, Korea on October 27th and 28th of this year. The representatives of the 5 countries which hold the most of the total number of patent applications in the world attended the meeting. The 5 countries are the Republic of Korea as the host country, the U.S.A., Japan, Europe and China. The meeting ended with a tangible achievement of agreeing to mutually assist in examining of overlapping patent applications filed among the countries.

In the meeting, the commissioners of the 5 patent offices agreed with the international cooperation principles and visions regarding patent examination, to reduce work-burden by mutually sharing and using the results of examination of the overlapping patent applications filed among the countries. Furthermore, they agreed to operate 10 core projects to specifically perform the international cooperation principles and visions.

In accordance with the agreement, from next year the 5 countries will jointly promote the 10 basic projects including the introduction of a common patent application format, the construction of common patent document database, the adoption of common patent classification, the construction of a common system for patent searches and examination results, among others, to smooth the international cooperation by making patent examination environments similar to one another.

The Republic of Korea will take initiative parts in the education and training for patent examiners, the authentication program of patent examiners and the development project of foreign language automatic translation systems, to lead the 5 countries¡¯ cooperation projects.


2. The Korean Intellectual Property Office (KIPO; Commissioner: Jungsik KOH) started an online service of exchanging a certified copy of a priority document with the United States of Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO)

- KIPO started the online service of exchanging a certified copy of a priority document with USPTO.

KIPO announced that they completed building an online system to exchange a certified copy of a priority document between KIPO and USPTO and from October 14, 2008 they would start the online exchange service.

Before the online certified copy exchange service of a priority document started, it was an inconvenience in that an applicant had to request in writing the proper patent office to issue a ¡®certified copy of the priority document¡¯ and upon receiving it, the applicant would directly submit it to the requesting country¡¯s patent office. However, such complicated procedure is expected to end through the online service for exchanging a certified copy of a priority document.

Furthermore, since KIPO can simplify the procedures of processing and computerizing priority documents, the effects of increasing administrative efficiencies and reducing expenses are expected.

According to KIPO, the online certified copy exchange service of a priority document is applied to an application for patent/utility model claiming a priority based on the Paris Convention. Therefore, an application for a patent/utility model is exempted from the procedure for submitting a certified copy of a priority document in writing.


3. A patent applicant selects the patent examination time

From October 1, 2008, the examination of a patent application can be performed at a time that the applicant desires.

An applicant selects any one of the three services including ¡®fast examination¡¯, ¡®general examination¡¯ and ¡®late examination, so that the applicant can freely adjust the patent examination time according to the applicant¡¯s patent strategies.

This directional change of KIPO is considered to reflect the requests of different clients who want high quality patent examination at their desired time, instead of the shortening of the previous uniform patent examination processing period.

Anyone can use the ¡®fast examination¡¯ through a totally expanded preferential examination. Results of the fast examination will be informed within 2-3 months from the date of requesting the fast examination.

Up to now, the fast examination was available on a limited basis to only certain applications, such as an application filed by a venture company or an application for an invention carried out by an applicant. However, from now on, anyone that requests special agencies* designated by KIPO to conduct prior art searches for preferential examination and to inform the commissioner of KIPO of search results is eligible to receive the fast examination service.

* Korea Intellectual Property Rights Information Service (KIPRIS), WIPS Co., Ltd., Korea IP Protection Technology Institute, IP Solution

Late examination is available through an examination postponement request system which is first introduced in the world. This approach is for a patent applicant who wants the patent application to be examined later than the general examination, due to a time for commercializing a developed technology, a search for marketability or the like. When an applicant requests a desirable postponement time* for examination in writing, the application undergoes the examination service within 3 months from the desirable postponement time.

* The desirable postponement time shall be selected within the period from 18 months after a request for examination is filed to 5 years after an application is filed.

In the case of general examination, the results of the examination will be provided within an average of 16 months (as of 2008). This time period is shorter by about 8~10 months, compared to the ¡°G3¡± advanced countries in the patent field, i.e., the U.S.A., Japan and Europe (25.3 months in the U.S.A., 26.0 months in Japan and 23.8 in Europe).


4. The number of intellectual property infringement cases in foreign countries is about 300 after 2000

The number of infringement cases of the intellectual properties of Korean companies from foreign countries since 2000 totals about 300.

The total number of cases where the intellectual properties of Korean companies are damaged in foreign countries during the period from 2000 to August, 2008 is 288, including 90 in China, 57 in the Asian countries, 44 in Europe and 33 in the North America and Oceania.

By intellectual property rights, the number of the infringement cases of trademarks is the most, 172, and the infringement cases of patents/utility models is 108.

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The world¡¯s top 5 strong patent countries to gather in the Republic of Korea (hereinafter, referred to as ¡®Korea¡¯) (154)
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