1. The number of intellectual property (IP) information search service cases exceeded two hundred million
The Korean Intellectual Property Office (KIPO) published that the number of accumulated search cases by the Korea Intellectual Property Rights Information Service (KIPRIS) passed two hundred million. KIPRIS is a free patent information search service which enables people to search and read the KIPO’s domestic and foreign IP related information through the Internet. KIPRIS’ detailed services include a patent search service, my interested patent service, a search support service, etc.
KIPRIS provides the environment for disabled or elderly people to easily use the information in its website, by a web-accessibility quality mark from the Korea National Information Society Agency.
KIPRIS has been selected as one of the outstanding sites to protect personal information. “We plan to make PR contents in the form of animation,” Hoon-Seok Byun, a chief of the Information Policy Bureau. He also added, “[W]e will spread the national awareness of KIPRIS in connection with YouTube, Social Network Service (SNS) and invention-related curriculum.”
2. Troubles in foreign trademark registration are solved with TMclass
TMclass is opened to search the names and classes of goods in thirty-one (31) countries in Hangul (Korean language).
KIPO announced that the TMclass was opened on May 16, 2013. Under the TMclass system, it is possible to search, in Korean language, the names and classes of goods approved in the thirty-one (31) countries including the USA, Japan, Germany among the others.
When an applicant wants to protect a trademark (brand) as a right by filing an application for the trademark in each country, the applicant shall file the application by correctly designating the goods and the classes of the goods to which the trademark is used. However, since the names and classes of goods are slightly different in each country, there have been many problems in filing a trademark application in a foreign country(ies).
However, when using the TMclass, the number of trademark application cases where the rejection was based on a wrong description of the names and classes of goods is expected to be greatly reduced in the future.
The TMclass is a site developed by the Office of Harmonization for the Internal Market (trademarks and designs) (OHIM), the community trademark in the European Union, making it possible to search the names and classes of goods in the world by using many different languages. This is one of the many cooperative projects progressed by Trademark 5 (TM5), a multilateral consultative group of the world’s five powerful trademark countries (the Republic of Korea, the USA, OHIM, Japan, China), to improve the convenience of the world applicants’ of trademark applications.
To learn how to use the TMclass, you may directly connect the Korean website of TMclass (http://tmclass.tmdn.org/ec2/)opened on May 16, 2013. Then, it is possible to easily search the names and classes of goods in thirty-one (31) countries, using the Korean language or many other languages.
3. A wireless charging zone for smart phones is coming
- Patents for a charging zone using a magnetic resonance method are in the limelight
As the use of smarts has rapidly increased, the number of patent applications related to the wireless charging technology has increased. Wireless charging technology makes it easy to charge, anytime and anywhere, batteries which are low on power.
According to KIPO, the number of patents related to the smart phone wireless charging technology was only 41 in 2008 but continued to increase to 98 in 2009, 173 in 2010 and 180 in 2011.
The wireless charging devices now on sale use a magnetic induction method whereby a magnetic field is provided on the device to make an electric current. However, since charging is possible only when the charger touches a battery, there is a limit in its use as it is impossible to call during charging.
Therefore, as Wifi can be used in a wireless LAN area, the magnetic resonance method whereby charging is possible in a specific area is spotlighted. The number of the relevant patent applications increased by 1.6 times in 2009, 2.3 times in 2010 and 1.5 times in 2011, compared with the applications related to the magnetic induction method.
A spokesperson of KIPO said, “[W]hen the magnetic resonance method is commercialized, a wireless charging zone like a wifi zone will exist, making a new paradigm.” The spokesperson also expected that the patent applications for commercialization of the magnetic resonance method would continue to be filed.
4. 200 companies specialized in IP services will be fostered by 2017
KIPO announced a plan for “IPservice 2017” to foster IP service businesses. KIPO will raise funds of 25 billion Korea Won to foster companies specialized in IP service and it will introduce a private qualification verification system.
According to KIPO, IPservice 2017 will be established as a support measure to prepare a long-term growth basis of intellectual property service businesses (IP service businesses), 200 companies specialized in the IP services will be fostered and the funds of 25 billion Korea Won will be raised.
□To raise the funds of 25 billion Korea Won to foster IP service businesses by 2017
□To foster 200 companies specialized in IP services by 2017
□To support the employment and training of personnel who are specialized in IP services and to introduce a private qualification examination system
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