1.A phone-video hearing is expanded for a patent trial
-Various communication channels are prepared for COVID-19.
The Korean Intellectual Property Office (KIPO) published the preparation of various communication channels (such as phone hearing, video interview, etc.) for use in a patent trial in view of the emergency situation of COVID-19.
Previously, an oral hearing and a face-to-face interview (including a technical explanatory session) were conducted in a patent trial. However, in the future, KIPO plans to expand the phone hearing, video interview, etc. in order that a civil petitioner and an attorney can freely communicate with a judge.
At present, KIPO has operated a video oral hearing by connecting a Seoul trial court and a Daejeon trial court.
A remote video oral hearing is a system where a civil petitioner residing in the capital area attends a Seoul trial court and a civil petitioner and a judge residing in a central district attend a Daejeon trial court by an oral hearing.
However, it is possible for a civil petitioner to have a video interview by connecting to vc.on-nara.go.kr at home or office.
In addition, in the case where it is difficult to use the internet, phone hearing system is introduced for a civil petitioner (plaintiff, defender, patent attorney) to examine an issue together. A civil petitioner can request a video interview or phone hearing by internet or phone by consent of the other person/party.
But, some cases requiring the interrogation of a witness, the examination of evidence (physical evidence), etc. will be conducted as an oral hearing to be held in the trial court.
2.The export of walkthrough equipment with a 'K-walk through' brand has rapidly increased
-300 or more walkthrough equipment is newly exported to nine countries including Thailand, Russia among others.
After KIPO started the governmental level support of the 'K-walk through brand' in the middle of April 2020, the worldwide interest in the Korean walkthrough equipment and the export thereof have increased.
Since the governmental level of support increased, 300 or more Korean walkthrough equipment winged with the 'K-walk through brand' have been exported to nine countries including Thailand, Russia, etc.
On the occasion of the meeting of walkthrough developers held on April 13, 2020, KIPO has continuously tried to expand the overseas distribution of the walkthrough equipment, by cooperating with the small and medium venture business depart and the Ministry of Trade Industry and Energy.
To overcome the limitation of Korean companies in pioneering overseas markets due to a weak brand, KIPO has developed the 'K-walk through' national brand and supported those companies in filing the rapid Korean and foreign patent applications and building the mass production system and it has also made efforts to inform the Korean walkthrough to the world through an overseas information activity through the meetings of the commissioners of the major national Patent Offices and the cooperation with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Korea Trade-Investment Promotion Agency (KOTRA).
KIPO will also prepare a plan for quality control, such as selection procedures and standards for permission of the manufacturing companies participating in the 'K-walk through' brand, as a plan to secure the quality of the walkthrough equipment to be exported abroad.
3.IoT-related patent applications have broadly expanded to the whole industry
-IoT is noticed as a growth engine of a non-face-to face business after COVID-19
The applications for the IoT technology were filed focused on ICT including an early device and a network, etc. However, as the IoT technology has been applied as a technology providing diverse services, it has been broadly expanded to the whole industry.
IoT is divided into devices, networks, platforms and services, etc. Specially, IoT services means the IoT application technology to create new added values by collecting data and analyzing situations to be provided to users.
According to KIPO, the number of patent applications related to the IoT services was less than 100 before 2012 but rapidly increased to 1,179 in 2017 by an increase of more than eleven times.
By applicants, small and medium companies filed 1,867 cases (33%), big companies filed 1,351 cases (24%), individuals filed 1,006 cases (18%), universities and institutes filed 810 cases (15%) and foreign corporations filed 468 cases (8%), showing that the small and medium companies and individuals and universities and institutes had relatively high numbers.
By major technologies, the IoT technologies are applied in many fields, such as remote supervisory control, farming, fishing and mining industries, healthcare, electricity-gas-water services, public services, transportation-automobiles, online content providing services, communication networks, computer devices, etc.
A spokesperson of KIPO said, "it is expected to create qood quality jobs and to strengthen Korean companies"global competitiveness by raising added values of the existing industries by applying the IoT technology across broad industries." The spokesperson also said, "The IoT service-related patent applications which have been increased in number are able to lead the growth of non-face-to-face industries after COVID-19, based on the smartification of industries, remote medical services and the expansion of working from home, etc."
4.As the K-brands enter in new southern regions, support is provided to control online fake products of the K-brands.
-Popular Korean characters, such as BT21, Pororo, Tayo, Tobot, Robocar Poli, are in the limelight in new southern regions
-A 'fake' product has no difference from the original product at first glimpse, like crooked 'Pororo's glasses, 'POLI' to 'PLOI',etc.
-KIPO supports, on a trial basis, the blocking of 845 online bulletins of fake K-character product sales in ASEAN shopping malls
According to KIPO, it finally blocked, through the Korea Intellectual Property Protection Agency (KIPPA), 845 bulletins of fake K-character product sales in ASEAN online shopping malls.
This resulted from the KIPO's support on a trial basis that was conducted, through the cooperation with e-commercial transaction companies in new southern regions, to six (6) ASEAN countries (including Thailand, Vietnam, Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore and the Philippines), focused on four (4) companies of 'K-characters' over two months starting in March 2020.
As the result of comprehending the types of online fake products and monitoring the ASEAN shopping malls, the KIPPA staff in charge of companies found a total of 857 suspicious bulletins and had asuccess in finally blocking 845 cases by reporting 848 cases.
The spokespeople of the relevant companies said, 'it is a big burden for small and medium companies to input the staff in charge and to appoint a local agent (attorney) while the IP protection environments of the ASEAN countries is poor?and also said, "Thanks to KIPO's rapid control of fake products in the ASEAN shopping malls, it was possible to solve the troubles in entering the ASEAN markets."
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