1. KIPO and Korea National Police Agency issued the world’s first INTERPOL purple notice in the industrial property area.
- A new crime method relating to design infringement is shared with 196 member countries of INTERPOL
On January 27, 2024, it was published that KIPO’s technology and design special judicial police (hereinafter, referred to as a ‘technology police’) and the Korea National Police Agency’s INTERPOL international cooperation officer issued a purple notice of the International Criminal Police Organization (INTERPOL) to a domestic design infringement criminal offender, to share it with 196 member countries.
< A purple notice was issued for the first time in the industrial property field… a new crime method is shared >
A purple notice is one of 8 wanted notices issued by INTERPOL. It has the aim to prevent similar transnational crimes by sharing a new crime method with the member countries. This is the world’s first case where INTERPOL’s purple notice was issued in the industrial property field.
This purple notice includes the content of a new crime method related to the design infringement and the imitation of a product form, such as disguised sales of ‘Loss’ products.
Loss products mean products sold without labeling that, because of product defects, a brand company does not label products which a consignment manufacturer received excess orders. In the relevant case, counterfeit products made from different fabrics were deceived as Loss products and they were sold at a higher profit than regular counterfeit products.
< South Korea actively participates in international security cooperation to protect IP rights >
While new sophisticated criminal methods crossing borders have increased, if an investigation agency recognizes a design infringement crime in advance and investigates it, this can be of great help in detecting criminals.
As it is difficult to prevent international crimes through the power of one country alone, INTERPOL’s purple notice of a wanted claim shows that South Korea as one of the security hubs is actively engaging in security cooperation and it has a great significance that South Korea also globally works hard in the criminal field to protect IP rights.
The National Police Agency’s international cooperation officer (INTERPOL office of International Cooperation) said, “The National Police Agency has the status of Korean National Central Bureau of INTERPOL. Accordingly, we support a Korean law enforcement agency in addition to the National Police Agency to use INTERPOL’s extensive infrastructure. Supporting KIPO to issue a purple notice was also in the same context. Therefore, taking an opportunity of issuing the purple notice, we expect to prevent the production and distribution of counterfeit products that cause significant damage to companies and to improve the global citizen’s awareness of counterfeit products. The National Police Agency will contribute to the prevention of international crimes by mobilizing all the capabilities of the police including INTERPOL and police officers, etc.
2. KIPO detected 503 cases of IP false labeling in the health food area.
- An intensive crackdown was conducted in the overall health food area, such as health functional food, health supplement food, etc.
- The most cases (85.5%) marked the expired IP rights as valid rights.
- Corrective actions were taken for 2,527 cases of false labeling by checking about 40,000 posts in one year of 2023.
As the demand for health functional foods continued to increase as people’s interest in health had increased, KIPO conducted an intensive control of IP false labeling on the overall health food area (August 11~September 20, 2023). According to KIPO on January 27, 2024, 503 cases were detected.
Since health functional foods relate to people safety, in this control, the subjects to be investigated were expanded to the overall health food area, including not only health functional foods sold in major open markets but also the other processed products classified as health supplement foods and general foods. As a result, 503 cases of IP false labeling were caught in 22 products.
< Type of investigation targets and examples of products on sale >
Concept and example
Health functional foods
Foods manufactured or processed by using raw materials or ingredients being functionally useful to the human body, to be certified by the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety and to help promote public health.
Example) lactobacillus (capsule)
Health supplement foods
With a name that plays an supporting role, these are not health functional foods as defined by the law.
Example) pumpkin juice (juice)
Other processed products
As foods consumed according to preference, these are classified as general foods and these are not health functional foods as defined by the law.
Example) glutathione (film), probiotics (granule)
Upon reviewing the type of false labeling which were caught, these included: ▲430 cases marking as a valid IP right even after the right expired, ▲32 cases simply misrepresenting a patent number, ▲19 cases marking a IP right rejected to be registered, ▲7 cases wrongly marking a pending patent application as a registration, and ▲the other 15 cases (IP right name errors). The most cases falsely marked IP rights by sellers by labeling expired rights.
The kinds of products which were caught were: ▲115 cases relating to red ginseng products, ▲74 cases relating to lactobacillus, ▲ 57 cases relating to cynanchum wilfordii products, ▲53 cases relating to lecithin products, ▲45 cases relating to beta-glucan products, and ▲ 158 cases relating to the others (deer antlers, juice, etc.). This showed that the misrepresentation of IP rights occurred in various kinds of health foods.
Regarding the cases that were caught, KIPO in cooperating with open market business people notified the sellers of products subject to misrepresentation of IP rights and provided the guidance on correct display methods and then completed corrective actions such as modification, deletion, etc.
3. KIPO blocks the leakage of a national core technology overseas.
- KIPO received a presidential commendation for investigation results.
- Achievements contributed to national technological security were recognized and an award ceremony was held in the Gawcheon Government Complex.
- The technology policy booked 515 people in 2023, and a total of 1,848 people were criminally charged for the last 5 years.
According to KIPO, since the technology and design special judicial police (hereinafter, referred to as a ‘technology police’) in cooperation with the National Intelligence Service of Korea blocked a national core technology from leaking abroad, it received a presidential commendation for the achievements contributed to national technological security.
< Criminals who leaked a national core technology overseas were arrested in January 2023, thereby preventing damage worth more than 100 billion Korea Won >
In early 2022, the technology police received, from the National Industrial Security Center of the National Intelligence Service, information about 2 researchers of a Korean middle market company, who moved to a Chinese company, and it began an investigation. As the researchers staying in China returned home temporarily as the coronavirus quarantine eased, the technology police rapidly secured evidence by a method of tracking them from the airport, etc.
During the process, the technology police secured a large amount of evidence of unauthorized leakage of the national core technology regarding semiconductor circuit board polishing and it also revealed that four additional accomplices, who were former and current employees of a Korean big semiconductor company, brokers, etc., were involved through a digital forensics evidence analysis. The technology police also banned them all from leaving the country, thereby preventing them from returning to the Chinese company.
After about 9 months of investigation, six former and current employees of three companies seeking leakage of a national semiconductor core technology to China were indicted and three main offenders were arrested in advance (January 2023). This is the first case that KIPO blocked the leakage of a national core technology and the first case that KIPO arrested and charged by requesting for a preliminary arrest warrant.
Further, since they were arrested before proceeding with full scale business in China, it was possible to block additional technology leakage and an economic damage which would be more than 100 billion Korea Won.
< The technology police as a dedicated organization of technology crimes achieved the result of arresting a total of 1,848 people and it plans to expand the scope of investigation next year >
In March 2019, the KIPO’s technology police were launched to prevent a leakage of a national core technology overseas and to investigate the crimes of infringing and leaking a patent right, a trade secret and a design right and in July 2021 the technical police were expanded and reorganized as a ‘technology police division’, a dedicated organization of technology crime investigation, continuing quantitative and qualitative growth.
In June 2023, an ‘intellectual property crime investigation support center’ was established under the Korea Intellectual Property Protection Agency, to strengthen the technology police’s functions of analyzing and scientifically investigating technology infringement, and in November 2023, an ‘investigation support team’ was newly formed in the technology police division.
KIPO also concluded a business agreement with the Fair Trade Commission (October 2023) and the Trade Committee (November 2023), to eradicate technology theft and to rapidly relieve a damaged company. KIPO has strengthened the cooperative systems with the technology crime-related organizations, such as the National Intelligence Service, the Prosecutor’s Office, the National Police Agency, etc.
Based on these efforts, the number of people booked criminally by the technology police, which was only 200 in 2019, increased to 515 in 2023 (as of December 25) by 2.5 times or more, reaching a total of 1,848. In 2023, the technology police achieved the result of returning the proceeds of crime (2.49 billion Korea Won) to the national treasury.
From 2024, the scope of investigation is to be expanded to utility model infringement, data technical protection measures neutralization act, and preliminary conspiracy throughout trade secret infringement, to narrow blind spots in investigation of technology infringement and leakage.
4. South Korea ranked first in the world as to the increase rate in the number of patent applications relating to an ‘automated material handling system’, which is the flower of semiconductor productivity,
- Among the top 10 companies, four Korean companies ranked including SEMES ranking third, Samsung Electronics ranking sixth, etc.
# An Automated Material Handling System (AMHS) means the entire system to automatically transport a circuit board front opening unified pod (FOUP) loading a circuit board in the semiconductor manufacturing line. Its core technology is to transport the FOUP as fast as possible while reducing dust and vibration to a minimum and to control such that the circuit board is transported to a process apparatus in a timely manner, without bottlenecks.
# The representative equipment of a semiconductor automated material handling system is an Overhead Hoist Transport (OHT) and a stocker. An OHT enables a vehicle running along a track attached to the ceiling of a semiconductor factory to automatically lift the FOUP and to carry it to a destination. A stocker is a storage where the FOUP is temporarily stored before and after it enters processing equipment. In addition to the OHT and stocker, an interfloor transfer device (lifter), an unmanned transport vehicle (Automated Guided Vehicle: AGV), etc. are included.
# The market size of a semiconductor automated material handling system is expected to reach US$3.52 billion in 2028 if it grows by 6.1% every year from US$2.47 billion in 2022. Accordingly, the technology development of a semiconductor automated material handling system is considered as being globally active.
*Industry Research, “AMHS for Semiconductor Market Insights and Overview [2023-2029]”, 2023.08.
While the number of patent applications relating to a semiconductor automated material handling system globally increased by an annual average of 10.2% over the last 10 years (2012~2021), the number of the relevant Korean applications increased by an annual average of 32.1%, showing the fastest growth.
KIPO analyzed the worldwide patent applications filed with IP5 (KIPO, USPTO, CNIPA, EPO and JPO). As a result, the number of the relevant applications, which was 117 in 2012, reached 281 in 2021 with an annual average growth of 10.2% over the 10 years.
< Patent application trend by country >
Upon reviewing the rate of increase in the number of applications by applicant’s nationality, the increase in the applications filed by South Korea applicants was an annual average of 32.1%t, which was the fastest in the world, followed by Taiwan with an annual average of 17.3% which was 2nd, Japan (6.2%), and China (6.2%).
Upon reviewing the number of the applications over the same period, 1st was Japan with 1,238 applications (67.7%), 2nd South Korea with 398 (21.8%), 3rd Taiwan with 88 (4.8%), 4th China with 46 (2.5%) and 5th USA with 44 (2.4%).
< Patent applications by technology field >
By technology field, 1,103 applications (60.3%) were related to an overhead hoist transport in the semiconductor automated material handling system, 587 (32.1%) were to a stocker, showing that almost all applications (92.4%) were related to these two. An annual increase rate of the overhead hoist transport-related applications was 21.1%, whereas, that of the stocker-related applications was -9.3%, indicating that the number of the overhead hoist transport-related applications rapidly increased.
< Major applicants >
As the major applicants, 1st was a Japanese company, Daifuku filed the most applications (608, 33.3%), 2nd a Japanese company, Murata Machinery (586, 32.1%), 3rd a Korean company, SEMES (248, 13.6%), 4th a Taiwanese company, TSMC (77, 4.2%) and 5th a US company, Brooks Automation (30, 1.6%).
In addition, Korean applicants included 6th Samsung Electronics (29, 1.6%), 7th SYNUS Tech (26, 1.4%) and 8th SFA (19, 1.0%), etc.
< Type of applicants >
Looking at the proportion by applicant type, overall the number of applications filed by companies was high at 98.7%, the number of the applications filed by individuals was 1.0%, universities 0.2%, and public institutions 0.1%. Due to the nature of the industry requiring large-scale investment, companies are considered to lead the technology development.
The team leader of the semiconductor fabrication equipment examination division of KIPO said, “since it needs to provide equipment suppliers with the manufacturing core information, such as process systems and production capacities, etc., to install an automated material handling system on a semiconductor line, localization is also necessary in terms of information security as well as economic perspective.” The team leader also added, “we will continue to provide not only high-quality examinations but also the relevant IP information so that Korean companies can develop innovative technologies and pioneer markets.”
5. ‘Free education for IP applications’ is provided for an applicant.
- From January 22, 2024, KIPO has accepted a request for an education for ‘the IP information search and the e-filing of an application’ and a request for an invitational education for ‘IP rights.
- A future applicant is supported with a variety of curriculums from IP application-related basics to practice.
KIPO published for the recruitment of subscribers to participate in the education for ‘the IP information search and the e-filing of an application’, which provides a free education regarding the procedures and content, etc. required to file an application for an IP (patent, trademark, design, etc.), and the invitational education for ‘IP rights from January 22, 2024.
< Education for the IP information search and the e-filing of an application is to be focused on practice for a group of 5 or more people >
The education for the IP information search and the e-filing of an application is a customized education program focused on practice, according to the characteristics of a subscribing organization for a group of 5 or more people, such as a school, a small/medium company, a public institute, etc.
This education consists of a total of 9 subjects including an introduction to IP rights, a search of IP information, an e-filing of an application, etc. The subscribing organization is able to select 2 subjects of them.
Last year, 104 organizations subscribed for this education. However, this year, the education will be provided to significantly increased 144 organizations.
The first half year education will be provided by the end of June by face-to-face or non-face-to-face. A subscription form filled out should be emailed at pygmalion100@kipi.or.kr from January 22 to February 22, 2024.
< Invitational education for IP rights is for an individual and a small company of 5 or less people >
The invitational education for IP rights is provided for an individual and a small company of 5 or less people. This also provides an education of a search of information related to patent, trademark, design, etc., an e-filing of an application, a copyright, a trade secret protection.
Education will be available four time during the first half year, from February to June. Although this education was provided online only by last year, a face-to-face education will be also provided to increase an education effect this year.
The first non-face-to-face education will be provided on February 23, 2024. A subscription form is available at Naver form (https://naver.me/52TZrHZ7) from January 22 to February 20, 2024.
The director of the Industrial Property Information Bureau of KIPO said, “we hope that curriculums which are diversely prepared, from basics related to the filing of an IP, such as a patent, etc., to an education centered on practice, will be helpful to future applicants including inventors in securing IP rights.” The director also added, “we will support, in various ways, applicants to easily obtain IP rights.”
6. 39 professionals highly skilled in semiconductors start the second chapter of life as patent examiners.
- Securing a semiconductor super gap is supported by using highly experienced people with extensive field experience.
[ Opinion of a patent examiner hired in the first recruitment in the semiconductor area ]
▶ (Examiner “A”, born in 1963): “A” retired after working as a researcher in the semiconductor area of a big Korean company for 30 years. “A” is living the second chapter of life, from a researcher of a big company to a patent examiner. According to “A”, a patent plays a very important roles in foster our industrial base and it is a great pleasure to participate in this.
▶ (Examiner “B”, born in 1977): “B” was offered a job abroad at up to 4 times an annual salary which a headhunter received at that time. However, “B” wanted to spend the second part of his/her life working as a patent examiner and to use, in public service, the knowledge and experience gained in the private sector, rather than losing the technical secrets abroad and becoming a stranger.
On January 2, 2024, KIPO appointed 39 final successful candidates of the second recruitment of a patent examiner in the semiconductor area.
This recruitment was carried forward to prevent leakage of a core technology in the competition for semiconductor technological supremacy among major countries, according to an overseas transfer of excellent personnel in the Korean semiconductor area. This recruitment was also carried forward as a part of national tasks to support the securing of a semiconductor super gap by using their extensive field experience and knowledge for patent examination.
This was a second recruitment following the first recruitment of hiring 30 civilian experts in the semiconductor area as examiners in February 2023.
Initially, there was also concerns that the support rate would be low, based on the characteristics of a professional fixed-term civil servant and the successive recruitment following the recruitment in the first half of 2023.
However, thanks to the features in that the first-time appointees have positive evaluations regarding patent examiners, there is no retirement age unlike general civil servants, and payment is higher than that of a general level 5 civil servant since a private sector experience is recognized, 191 people applied as a result of receiving applications, showing a high competition rate of about 5:1.
Since this recruitment of patent examiners was highly regarded as the government’s strong commitment to protect cutting edge technology and a new attempt of public appointment to reuse the professionalism of private retired personnel in a public office, it received the grand prize (Presidential Award) in a ‘2023 contest of excellent cases for personal innovation’, which was hosted by the Ministry of Personnel Management (December 13, 2023).
Looking at the status of final successful candidates, among 39 successful candidates, the oldest was 59 years old (born in 1964) and there were 4 people, and the youngest was 38 years old (born in 1985), so the average age was 53.6 years old.
A large number of highly skilled professionals in the semiconductor area which was familiar with the latest technology trends were hired as shown in: ▲an average experience in the semiconductor area was 26 years and 2 months, ▲master’s and doctoral degree holding rate was 69.2%, and ▲incumbent ratio was 84.6%.
The successful candidates are to be assigned to departments in each technical field, such as semiconductor layout, processes, materials, etc., through a new examiner training (January 2~19, 2024) and a new civil servant job training (January 22~26, 2024), to perform patent examiner work. They will also receive close guidance (mentoring) from senior examiners, to cultivate examination capacities.
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