1. An intellectual property (IP) value evaluation system led by the government will be built
The government improves the IP (such as patent technologies, etc.) value evaluation system. The government starts vitalizing the IP transaction by integrating and building a database (DB) of public institutions’ technological transactions. Support measures by the government’s budget are prepared to reduce a burden of IP financial risk.
The government has grasped that there are many obstructive factors in the process of actually operating the IP value evaluation system. The obstructive factors as indicated are: △ information useful for the value evaluation is insufficiently provided △ market information as the evaluation basis, such as real transaction cases, etc., is insufficient △ evaluation quality management system, such as post analysis, etc., is incomplete △ information of IP/technologies is asymmetric and evaluation of financial facilities’ value is distrustful △ burden of evaluation expenses, and △ it is difficult to accumulate the basic information due to the incompletion of a mechanism of forming price, etc.
The government has decided to minimize the risk factors so that financial facilities can positively invest in IP. According to a spokesperson, the government is preparing a plan to share the financial world’s risk by the government’s support fund. The spokesperson also explained that detailed measures would be discussed in a 3rd council of IP value evaluation/financial policy to be held in August.
2. The unification of the world patent information standard (ST.96)
Unifying a new patent information standard (ST. 96) is being promoted by the Republic of Korea and the USA. The convenience of users using the patent information is expected to expand by the standardization of the IP-related data which are different by countries. Whether a country (like Europe, etc.) having used the existing standards will join is a concern.
The Korean Intellectual Property Office (KIPO) published that the Republic of Korea and the USA among the major 5 countries (IP 5) in filing patent applications had started a project to apply the new standard form, ST.96, of the patent information standards of the world intellectual property organization (WIPO). ST.96 is a standard prepared with more detailed guidelines and data exchange unity from the different data forms used by different countries, ST.36 (applied in 2004), ST.66 (applied in 2007) and ST.86 (applied in 2008).
The most fast-moving countries are the Republic of Korea and the USA. In the Republic of Korea, the patent information users have had difficulties in obtaining information through a search, etc. by using its own standard. According to KIPO, since a considerable quantity of non-standard items and errors were present in document structures, data readability decreased. In addition, since the main numeric systems, such as application numbers, publication numbers, etc., were different by date ranges or right types, there were difficulties in searches. When ST.96 is applied, a data structure of the information which had been provided in a simple text structure is changed to an XML format used as a patent information structure in many countries. KIPO decided to apply ST.96 to a supply database as a 5-year plan from this year.
The US Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) has also been proceeding with a project to apply the ST.96 system.
3. The number of patent applications for a sensor-based machine to machine (M2M) has rapidly increased
The development of the sensor-based M2M159 technology which is a representative IT converging technology is active.
According to KIPO, the number of the patent applications related to the M2M technology was only about 60 during 2003~2007 but it sharply increased to about 600 during the last 5 years, 2008~2012.
This is considered as the result of supplying the diverse wireless communication technologies, such as Bluetooth, wifi, etc., and popularizing the smartphone 117.
By years, the number of the relevant applications was 14 in 2008, 55 in 2009, 143 in 2010 and 238 in 2011, showing an increase every year. Then for a while it slow to 167 in 2012.
The reason why the communication companies have competitively developed this technology is that they realize this technology as a profit source to create a high value by providing the users with various services by combining it with smartphones.
4. The Republic of Korea is 3rd in world rank of filing the nano-technology patent applications and 4th in competitiveness
The Republic of Korea is recorded as 3rd following the USA and Japan in the number of US published patents as registered in nano-technology.
According to the ‘2012 nano-technology yearbook of’ published by the Ministry of Science, ICT (information communication technology) & Future Planning (MSIP) last year, the Republic of Korea took a 3rd place in the nano-technology field, following China and the USA in the number of publishing paper/thesis in the Science Citation Index (SCI). In an evaluation of Lux Research, a specialized company, the Korean nano-technological competitiveness was 4th in 2010, following the USA, Japan and Germany.
The nano-technology yearbook contains overall policies, research and development, industrialization, infrastructure construction, manpower training, etc. of domestic and foreign nano-technology of 2012.
Nano-technology receives attention as a future core technology to create fusion industries and to jumpstart national competitiveness. The MSIP has positively carried forward the nano-technology promoting policy on the government level since 2001. During the last 12 years, the amount to be invested in the nano-technological development has reached about 2.9 trillion Korea Won.
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