1. KIPO has published the ‘2010 Intellectual Property White Paper’
The Korean Intellectual Property Office (KIPO) published the ‘2010 Intellectual Property White Paper’, which describes the current states and main results of the intellectual property policies of 2010 and includes the future direction of the intellectual property polices.
As mentioned, since the ‘2010 Intellectual Property White Paper’ includes the main results, tasks and future directions of the intellectual property polices, it is expected to improve the people’s understanding and interest in intellectual properties and to present an opportunity of spreading a bond of sympathy regarding the intellectual property policies under the circumstances that the importance of the intellectual properties is increasing as shown in the recent patent suit between Samsung and Apple.
This White Paper consists of a total of six (6) chapters, including the following major contents:
Chapter 1 relates to an overview of intellectual property policies. This chapter includes domestic and foreign trends in the intellectual property field, patent administrative strategic systems and the main results of 2010.
Chapter 2 relates to a building of intellectual property service systems to the G5 level. This chapter introduces the results and directions of the examination and trial services, the global intellectual property cooperation and the nationwide pushing ahead with intellectual property policies.
Chapter 3 relates to an expedition of economically and industrially using intellectual properties. This chapter describes the current states and results of carrying forward the strengthening of the connection between the national R&D and the intellectual property rights, and the fosterage of small and medium companies and middle standing enterprises being strong with intellectual property rights.
Chapter 4 relates to the realization of a fair intellectual property society. This chapter explains the importance and directions of the consideration of the socially weak ones and the protection in the intellectual property field.
Chapter 5 relates to a realization of responsible administration focused on clients and results.
Chapter 6 presents the trends and observation in the fields of filing of applications, examinations and trials, and registrations.
2. It becomes easy to access Chinese patent information
- The access to Chinese patent information is accelerated by an exchange of patent data between the Republic of Korea and China.
KIPO announced that it concluded a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with the State Intellectual Property Office of the People’s Republic of China (SIPO) on May 25, 2011, to increase the accessibility to Chinese documents and to improve the examination quality by the exchange of patent data.
Accordingly, since the examiners of KIPO are able to directly search the patent documents of China which is 2nd in the world ranking of the number of filing patent applications, following the USA, the quality of examination can be improved.
The major contents of the MOU are as follows:
▲ Electronic exchange of data, such as patent/utility model/design publications, English abstracts and bibliographical matters of patents,
▲ Use of data only for examination in KIPO and SIPO, and the
▲ Termination of the data exchange at the end of July, 2012
3. The number of applications for intellectual property rights filed by strong small companies has sharply increased
- The number of patent and design applications filed by strong small companies increased by about two (2) times for the latest five (5) years
Although the total number of applications for intellectual property rights, such as patents, was generally tied up for the last two (2) ~ three (3) years by the aftereffects of the worldwide financial crisis, the number of the applications filed by small companies sharply increased.
KIPO analyzed the filing data for the latest five (5) years (2006~2010) by using the information of reduction and exemption of the filing fees and the like. According to the result of the analysis, the total number of patent and design applications filed by small companies in 2010 was 34,285, with an about twice increase compared with 18,038 in 2006.
The total number of the whole patent and design applications filed during the same period increased by 4.5% (from 217,923 to 227,823). The total number of the patent and design applications filed by medium companies increased by 24.8% (from 12,036 to 15,019). Compared with these, the increased rate, 90.1%, in the number of the patent and design applications filed by small companies is really explosive.
4. The filing of applications in the transparent display field is active
In the movie, Avatar, a transparent display showing the background is used to confirm the body condition of Avatar during creating Avatar of the main character, Jake. The transparent display so-called ‘Avatar display’ is again noticed.
The use of a transparent display has been expanded to a transparent show-window to introduce a product displayed in a department store, a smart glass window to control the brightness of solar light, a driving information display to indicate the meter information, such as speed or fuel remaining, on the windshield of a vehicle, and the like.
According to KIPO, as a result of analyzing the transparent display-related applications for the last five (5) years (2006~2010), the number of the applications steadily increased each year, 47 in 2006, 109 in 2007, 110 in 2008, 147 in 2009 and 142 in 2010.
Classified by applicants, LG Display filed 57 applications, Samsung Electronics filed 53 applications, Samsung Mobile Display filed 38 applications, Samsung SDI filed 28 applications, Samsung Electrics filed 20 applications and Korea Electronics and Telecommunications Research Institute filed 17 applications. In the display field, the Korean companies and laboratories filed 495 applications, which is 88% of the total number of the applications in this field which indicates the domination of Korean companies in this field. Specially, the number of applications filed by the industry-university cooperation agencies under universities was 42, showing the active progress of the industry-university research.
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