1.A patent information collection of antiviral drugs has been published to develop the COVID-19 medicines using drug repurposing.
-The patent information collection includes the patent information of drug repurposing candidate drugs.
To support the development of the COVID-19 medicines, KIPO (Korean Intellectual Property Office) published the patent information collection of antiviral drugs, which includes the patent information, permitted articles, clinical information, etc. of antiviral drugs which are leading candidate groups of drug repurposing.
The development of medicines and vaccines are essential for full control of COVID-19. When the worldwide spread and urgency of COVID-19 are taken into consideration, especially, as for the medicines, it is desirable to use the drug repurposing strategies that can greatly reduce the development time in comparison with an ordinary new drug development process.
The drug repurposing is a strategy for repurposing an existing drug by expanding indications as a drug for treating another disease. Since COVID-19 belongs to coronavirus like SARS or MERS, upon considering the similarity in the target actions of a drug, it is antiviral drugs that is a group of medicinal effects as being most influential as drug repurposing to develop the COVID-19 medicines.
This patent information collection includes the Korean patent information, permitted articles and clinical information on a total 130 antiviral drugs which are the antiviral drugs commercially available by the Korean Ministry of Food and Drug Safety or the FDA of US since 1987, and the antiviral drugs with clinical phase 2 or 3 tests permitted by FDA or in foreign countries.
2.Education through a ‘WIPO-Korea Summer School’ has been operated by online for the first time in Asian countries
Cooperating with WIPO, the International Intellectual Property Training of KIPO has operated a curriculum, ‘WIPO-Korea Summer School on IP’, for the worldwide university students and the relevant workers who are interested in IP, from June 29 to July 10.
The curriculum of ‘WIPO Summer School on IP’ is a course of education to train global IP human resources, which is operated by the cooperation of WIPO which is a specialized agency under the UN and each country and has been operating in a number of countries including the Republic of Korea, US, China, India, etc. since it was established in Switzerland in 1998.
In the Republic of Korea, the curriculum of ‘WIPO-Korea Summer School on IP’ has been operated every year since 2008 by the cooperation of KIPO and WIPO.
Through a total of twelve (12) curriculums conducted by 2019, 285 trainees of 44 countries learned about a diversity of subjects from the concept and importance of IP rights, such as a patent right, a trademark right, etc., to the latest issues in the IP field. This year, the curriculum has been performed online, instead of an invitation-based program conducted by the International Intellectual Property Training, due to the worldwide pandemic COVID-19.
Some of the thirteen (13) curriculums of ‘WIPO Summer School on IP’, scheduled for this year, are operated online for the first time. The curriculums of four (4) countries including the Republic of Korea, US, Switzerland were selected through the discussion with each country after considering the IP environments and communication infrastructures, etc. by country. The Republic of Korea has operated the online curriculum for the first time in the Asian countries.
3.In the un-contact area, digitally signed certificates are allowed
-KIPO prepared the standards for submission of a power of attorney prepared in an electronic document and a notarization through video, etc.
On June 19, 2002, KIPO announced that the standards for online-submission of certificates that are digitally signed have been operated as un-contact work has increased due to the spread of COVID-19.
Regarding a power of attorney to be submitted when a foreign applicant designates an agency (patent attorney) and a notarized document to be submitted as evidence when a patentee transfers a patent right, KIPO has operated the procedures prepared so that it is possible to submit a power of attorney which is electronically/digitally signed or an electronic document which is notarized through a video as an un-contact method.
A notarization through a video is a system that a notary confirms and notarizes the identity of a person who entrusts a video notarization and the content of an electronic document through a video camera, etc. online, rather than by a direct contact manner.
In a case of a non-resident, when it is required to submit an evidentiary document to assign a patent, previously an original of a document notarized in the relevant/residence country must be submitted. However, under the COVID-19 situation, when it is not possible to have a face to face meeting with a notary, it is difficult to submit a notarized document.
From now, a non-resident can submit a remotely notarized file that is notarized by an online video contact. Inevitably, in a case where a document must be submitted, it will be possible to submit a printed document thereof if a patent administrator (including a patent attorney) verifies that the printed document of the corresponding file which is remotely notarized is identical with the original, without any artificial change.
4.The number of patent applications relating to the COVID-19 diagnostic technology which is a front-runner of K-prevention
-The number of patent applications relating to the COVID-19 diagnostic technology is 40 within only 4 months
The number of patent applications relating to the COVID-19 diagnostic technology which is a front-runner of K-prevention has increased. According to KIPO, since the COVID-19 diagnostic technology was first filed in a patent application (by the Armed Forces Medical Command and registered in April) in February, the number of the relevant applications grew to 40 within only 4 months.
This shows a high increase tendency for a short period, compared to the time of the respiratory tract virus epidemics, such as SARS (occurring in 2002, with 19 applications over 18 years) and MERS (occurring 2013, with 32 applications over 7 years).
This increase tendency is considered as having resulted since the heavy increase in worldwide demands of diagnostic technology due to the pandemic, the increase in reliability of K-prevention, the rapidity in approval process and the positive support policies including international standardization, etc. have facilitated the technological development.
The COVID-19 diagnostic technology in the applications filed with KIPO is classified by technology, as molecular diagnostics (22 applications) and immunodiagnostics (18 applications).
Upon sorting the 40 patent applications by applicant, 6 applications were filed by government agencies and government-funded research institutes, 12 by universities, 17 by businesses and 5 by individuals.
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