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Korean Intellectual Property Office (KIPO) started on the development of a world patent document processing program (157)

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KH

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2008-12-02

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1. Korean Intellectual Property Office (KIPO) started on the development of a world patent document processing program

KIPO (Commissioner: Jung-sik KOH) announced that they would develop a global patent document processing program which anyone can easily and conveniently use, irrespective of language and nationality, by until next year and make it available to many countries of the world from 2010. The global patent document processing program is software to be used in forming a specification (to describe detailed matters of an invention) and an amendment (to amend the described contents of the submitted specification) which are submitted to KIPO to obtain patent for an invention.

The patent document processing program will be developed by positively considering a user¡¯s convenience, broad use, and the global environment. Thus, according to the patent document processing program to be developed, various convenient functions required for making a patent document (such as the functions of generating an amendment, preventing forgery/alteration, comparing documents, performing match check and spelling check, and the like) are provided to a MS-Word editor widely used in the world, based on a next-generation digital document standard to support an open standard document format which enables one to easily open an existing document without depending on a particular program of Open XML.

Furthermore, the patent document processing program will support many languages so that many countries of the world can easily install and use the KIPO¡¯s patent document processing program in their own language. It will also support a global character set, making it easy to share information among the national Patent Offices.

Furthermore, the patent document processing program will support the document formats and the like of the United States of Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO), Japanese Patent Office (JPO) and European Patent Office (EPO), to be a widely used global standard software.

To this end, KIPO is working to build a continuous technical cooperation system with Microsoft Korea and possibly a joint-cooperation plan with the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO).


2. Joint-project of patent manpower education between KIPO and Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC)

Using the ¡®e-learning contents¡¯ developed by KIPO, KIPO educates manpower specialized in utilizing patent information for the member countries of APEC.

On November 19, KIPO announced to carry out an ¡®education project for manpower specialized in utilizing patent information in the APEC area¡¯, in association with APEC.

A total of USD 270,000, including USD 130,000 from an APEC fund and USD 140,000 from a KIPO¡¯s estimate, is invested for this project.

Accordingly, KIPO operates an on-line education program using the e-learning contents ¡°IP Xpedite¡± to 600 people of 21 member countries of APEC. KIPO also plans to provide top students completing the on-line education with an off-line education regarding intellectual properties in Korea in June, next year.

¡°IP Xpedite¡±, the e-learning contents for specialists related to the use of patent information, was jointly developed by KIPO and APEC in 2006 and 2007, based on a total of USD 540,000, including USD 260,000 from an APEC fund and USD 280,000 from a KIPO¡¯s estimate.

Last October, KIPO proposed the ¡®education project for manpower specialized in utilizing patent information in the APEC area, using IP Xpedite¡¯ in the 2009 Budget Management Committee (BMC) held at the APEC Secretariat in Singapore. As the proposal was accepted, KIPO succeeded in attracting the APEC fund of USD 130,000.


3. Korean Association of Phonogram Producers (KAPP) reached an agreement on copyrights with Webhard companies

Webhard companies involved in legal disputes about online music copyrights with KAPP have succeeded in reaching an agreement regarding the past infringement of phonogram copyrights.

Accordingly, legal disputes regarding phonogram copyrights are expected to greatly decrease. Specifically, as the Webhard companies are promoting agreements on the use of copyrights with the other two of three organizations holding the phonogram copyrights (i.e., KAPP, Korea Music Copyright Association and Korea Art Performers Association), it is expected that it will be possible to freely download phonograms on the internet, with or without a fee.

Taking the agreements with the organizations holding the phonogram copyrights as the starting point, the Webhard companies plan to positively promote agreements with groups having copyrights in the other fields, such as movies and the like. As for a particular movie, ¡°Pursuer¡±, the copyright owner and a Webhard company have agreed to share profits. Digital Contents Network Association (DCNA) expect that, when an agreement on a copyright is settled in the other contents, such as movie and others, in addition to phonogram, Webhard will be settled as a partner to create new profits of digital contents not a breeding ground for illegal downloads.


4. Patent disputes getting more serious during economic depression

Considering the international patent disputes from 2000 to the end of June, 2008 by KIPO, the number of patent disputes that foreign companies brought to courts at home and abroad and the International Trade Commission (ITC) against Korean Information Technology (IT) companies related to mobile phones, displays and the like in 2007 was 29, increasing almost three times, the number of the patent disputes being only 11 in 2006.

According to an US legal information site (Justia.com), the number of cases brought to US Federal District Courts for four years from 2004 to 2007, where the top thirty Korean export companies to the US were accused relating to patent rights, was as many as 99. However, the number of cases where Korean companies brought lawsuits against the US local companies was only 28.

Among the 99 cases, Samsung group and LG group, being high exporters in the IT, were accused in 48 cases and 31 cases, respectively, reaching 79 cases involved with two companies only. By contrast, 14 cases were brought by Samsung and 13 cases were brought by LG.

Korean companies have been a main target in the lawsuit under ¡°Section 337¡± led by ITC. Under ¡°Section 337¡±, when an infringement issue arises regarding an intellectual property right of an item imported from a foreign country, a US company brings the lawsuit.

Korean companies were accused in 4 of a total of 33 cases brought in relation to Section 337 in 2006 and in 7 of a total of 36 cases brought in 2007. By fields, most of the cases brought against Korean companies were related to semiconductors and communication equipments. US companies would mainly bring lawsuits against big companies in the past but these days they are increasingly aiming at medium and small companies.

¡°When medium and small companies as well as big companies are involved with patent trials, finding new markets, increasing production lines and investing into research and development cannot help being seriously affected¡¦There may be much more serious damages than those caused by the existing import restrictions, such as antidumping, countervailing duty and the like,¡± explained a spokesperson of the IT industries.
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