1. Some of the reasons Korean shipbuilding is the strongest in the world
- Masterpieces of patent technologies making the Korean shipbuilding a world ranking first
In the Korean shipbuilding industries keeping first place in the world ranking until 2007, the number of patent applications has been sharply increasing relatively to the competing countries, such as China among others. In this field, the number of the patent applications filed by the Republic of Korea in 2009 was greater by about two (2) times (about 1,454) the number of the patent applications filed by either China or Japan.
Especially, Samsung Heavy Industries Co., Ltd. which filed 1,099 applications in 2010 was the single Korean shipbuilding company filing more than 1,000 patent applications. Also, this year Hyundai Heavy Industries Co., Ltd. and Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering Co., Ltd. are expected to file in the ‘neighborhood of 1,000 patent applications’ according to a survey,
In the view of the patent tendencies for the last ten (10) years by the international patent classification (IPC) of the Korean big shipbuilding companies, the most number of the applications for the technologies related to a body of a ship/vessel, a marine structure and equipment for shipping (B63B) (681 applications) was filed in 2010, about twenty (20) times in comparison with the number of the applications filed 2001 (34 applications).
In addition, for the reduction of green house gas, nitrogen and sulfur oxides and the energy saving which were progressively strengthened by the International Maritime Organization (IMO) in accordance with the UN Deal on Climate Change and the Kyoto Protocol, 161 applications relating to a marine propulsion apparatus (B63H) were filed in 2010, an increase of sixteen (16) times in comparison with 10 applications filed 2001.
The Korean Intellectual Property Office (KIPO) plans to support the Korean shipbuilding industries in order to obtain core/original patents through a ‘ program to support intellectual property-research & development connection strategies’, thereby continuously maintaining the first place in the world ranking. KIPO also plans to strengthen the patent work support for Korean shipbuilding yard and shipbuilding equipment industries by continuously carrying forward a MOU with the Korean Shipbuilders’ Association.
2. Patents-net security is strengthened by server based computing (SBC)
- 3rd generation Patents-net is built based on SBC
To further strengthen the security system of the patents-net, KIPO decided to fully apply the SBC technology which is a kind of cloud computing to a 3rd generation patents-net system which is currently in the process of construction.
If the SBC technology is applied to the patents-net system, all documents are stored on a server only and the patents-net which is a service net of examiners is separated from the internet. Therefore, the patent information (such as patent applications and the like) required for high security is blocked from flowing out and malignant codes or virus through the internet are blocked from flowing in, so that the security of the patents-net is greatly tightened.
In addition, since all work processes are performed on the server, there is no need to have a high-performance PC and therefore operation expenses according to frequent upgrades of the PC can be saved. Further, the work environments can be standardized regardless of connection environments and data restoration can be quickly processed.
KIPO has made progress in a program to build the 3rd generation patents-net including the SBC introduction. The analysis and plan thereof were completed last year. At present, the request to purchase the computing resources (such as a server required for building the SBC, a desktop virtual engine, and the like) has been sent to the Public Procurement Service. The SBC environments will be built during the second-half of this year and thus the SBC based work environments will be fully available from January, 2012.
3. Special control of a blind spot for counterfeit product control was operated
- Twenty-five (25) people including counterfeit product manufacturers were arrested
The special judicial police squad for trademarks (SJPS) of KIPO carried out a special control of a blind spot for counterfeit product control for one month from May 25, 2011 to June 24, 2011. As a result, twenty-five (25) people including counterfeit product manufacturing and distributing violators were arrested and charged with a crime based on the violation of the trademark law.
Considering that counterfeit products were actively distributed around the areas (apartment concentration areas or tourist surroundings) where the control of jurisdictions had been careless, SJPS operated the special control of counterfeit products by fully mobilizing the control manpower of three (3) local offices in Seoul, Busan and Dajeon.
Through this special control, SJPS arrested twenty-five (25) people including counterfeit product manufacturers and distributors, LEE (female, age: 50) building a manufacturing factory to illegally manufacture fake luxury bags and to put them on the market and PAHK (male, age: 46) supplying specially fake masterpieces to national wholesale and retail stores like the Dongdaemmon market in Seoul. SJPS also confiscated 2,880 counterfeit products (valued at about 1,430,000,000 Korea Won) on the spot.
As the means for selling counterfeit products has become more sophisticated and the transactions thereof are secretly performed, KIPO plans to reinforce its control power by increasing the control manpower and specially hiring an investigation-experienced person and to absolutely cope with the recently rapidly increasing online distribution of counterfeit products by preparing digital forensic equipment.
4. The Patent Offices of five (5) advanced countries agreed to jointly use patent examination results…KIPO will shorten an examination period by strengthening the G5 international cooperation
- In the 4th commissioner’s meeting of the Patent Offices of the five (5) advanced countries, the commissioners agreed to expand the use of examination results
- Korea-US international patent prosecution highway has been agreed to be operated
In the commissioner’s meeting of the five (5) advanced countries held in Tokyo, Japan for two days (June 23, Thursday and 24, Friday), G5 Patent Offices (of the Republic of Korea, USA, Japan, China and Europe) agreed to expand the use of examination results between countries to shorten a patent examination period.
In the meeting on June 23, 2011, G5 Patent Offices agreed to build the examination environments to be jointly used, by unifying the infrastructure essential for patent examination (for different patent classification, information system and examination practice of each Patent Office) and expanding the cooperation of the international patent harmonization of the patent systems.
For the mutual work cooperation, the G5 Patent Offices also agreed to:
- plan to introduce a common patent classification,
- cooperate in information to exchange and use patent examination results,
- hold a workshop for harmonization of examination practice, and
- expand a international work cooperation.
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