1. South Korea’s increase rate in the number of PCT applications filed in the first half of this year ranked second in the world
KIPO announced that the number of PCT (Patent Cooperation Treaty) international applications filed by Korean companies during the first half of this year sharply increased in comparison with the same period of the previous year in spite of the hard situation where the COVID-19 infectious disease has spread.
According WIPO, the number of the PCT international applications filed by Korean companies during the first half of this year is 8,867, ranking fifth in the world, and the increase rate in comparison with the same period of the previous year is 10.3%, ranking second following China among the world top ten countries in the number of the PCT international applications.
The increase rates in the number of the PCT international applications for the first half of this year by high ranking countries are 4.7% (29,485 applications) for US, 19.8% (27,818) for China, △0.6% (26,355) for Japan, △2.4% (9,143) for Germany, 10.3% (8,867) for South Korea, 1.2% (3,569) for France and 0.1% (2,845) for UK.
China and South Korea show a steep increase, whereas US shows a gradual increase and Japan and Germany show a decrease.
Considering that South Korea has kept the 5th place in the world in the number of the PCT international applications since 2010 and Germany shows a decrease trend, South Korea is expected to climb to fourth following US, China and Japan.
South Korea’s increase in the number of the PCT international applications is considered as being due to the fact that Korean companies have secured bridgeheads in entering the overseas markets by preoccupying patents in foreign countries and have been an active force in protecting patent technologies in the global markets.
Previously, Korean small/medium companies and venture companies would not easily try to secure patents in foreign countries due to a lack of funds, a lack of local information and network and a language barrier even though they had developed excellent patent technologies.
To support the companies having difficulties in advancing overseas markets, KIPO has carried forward the preparation of the national level strategies to secure IP rights in foreign countries, the support of expenses in filing applications in foreign countries and the raising of IP application supporting funds.
KIPO has a plan to carry forward the reduction of official fees for filing a PCT international application and public awareness through the joint explanation and seminar with WIPO.
2. The Korean walkthrough will soar to the world by KIPO’s positive administration
KIPO selected four (4) cases including ‘support in overseas expansion of Korean walkthrough test equipment’ as the best practical cases for positive administration in the second half of this year.
As a result of discovering the distinction for positive administration that the people can feel based on creativity and professionalism and the relevant cases through the contest procedures for two weeks starting August, the four(4) cases have been selected, which are: ‘support in overseas expansion of Korean walkthrough test equipment’, ‘introduction of tax benefits for small/medium companies in patent search and analysis expenses’, ‘building of a non-face-to-face work system to deal with COVID-19’, and ‘introduction of a temporary application filing system to overcome the inconvenience of a thesis application’.
Regarding the ‘support in overseas expansion of Korean walkthrough test equipment’ case, the support was provided in securing and marketing domestic and overseas IP rights for the mass-production and in supplying the COVID-19 walkthrough test equipment which was for the first time developed by South Korea. This case has been selected as best practices by approving its performance contributing to the prevention of COVID-19 spread since the Korean walkthrough test equipment was chosen as a standard candidate of ISO (International Organization for Standardization) regarding the walkthrough test procedures and was exported to 28 countries including Thailand and Japan, etc., in the world.
The content of promotion in this case was the support in securing the Korean walkthrough equipment’s domestic and overseas IP rights and in branding the same, the support in building the customized mass-production system thereof and in marketing thereof, and the support in overseas expansion of the walkthrough technology, among others.
The positiveness in this case was to perform an IP consulting by discovering a company owning the walkthrough technology and to conclude a business agreement in the public use of the walkthrough technology for the public interest.
The major achievements were that 41 Korean patent applications and 1 PCT international patent application were filed, the first patent relating to the Korea walkthrough test technology was registered, the Korean walkthrough test technology has been in the process of being selected as a standard of IOS, 152 walkthrough equipment has been newly exported to 28 countries including Thailand, Japan among the others, and the know-how has been supported to developing countries and shared with 6 countries.
Regarding the ‘introduction of tax benefits for small/medium companies in patent search and analysis expenses’ case, the tax benefit of 25% to the advance patent search and analysis expenses was provided to increase of the success rate in research and development by a small/medium company.
In this case, the active efforts and creativity were highly appreciated in the work promotion process of expansively designating the IP diagnostic institutions up to 200 so that small and medium companies can be easily available for patent search and analysis and persuading the related departments.
3. It will be easier to file a design application in Europe
When an applicant files a design application with the EPO (European Patent Office), from October 1, 2020 the applicant does not need to directly submit a certified copy of a priority document to the EPO which takes charge of a design registration which will be effective to the European Union consisting of 27 nations.
According to KIPO, starting on October 1, 2020 the online exchange of a certificate of a priority document in a design application is expanded to the EPO following US, China and Japan.
Previously, when a Korean applicant files with EPO a design application claiming priority based on the Korean application, the applicant should submit the certified copy of the document by appointing a local patent attorney. In this regard, this measure removes a cumbersome requirement and reduces the cost.
When an applicant wants to file a design application with EPO by using this service, the applicant may describe the four-DAS (Digital Access Service) code which is automatically assigned from KIPO upon filing the EPO design application including the Korean application number and filing date.
Then, on behalf of the applicant, KIPO and EPO proceed with an online exchange of a certified copy of the relevant priority document through the computerized system of WIPO.
4. The evolution of a mask which has advanced by COVID-19
- The number of patent applications related to an intelligent mask to solve the inconvenience of a mask and to have a customized function has rapidly increased.
Last July, great attention was given where an ‘electronic mask grafted with an air cleaning function’ which is not a health mask, was donated to a medical team by a Korean company. In the electronic mask, a speed of a fan which is operatively connected to a breathing detection sensor is controlled for a user to easily breath and a filter replacement time is indicated by a smart phone alarm.
Besides, new mask products including a transparent mask showing the mouth for the hearing impaired have been released to consider the weak by reducing the pain to their ears securing the mask and to solve the inconvenience caused by long time wearing.
According to KIPO, the number of the mask-related patent applications increased from 68 in 2013 to 416 in 2019, by an average of 40%, and was 1,129 by August of this year that the COVID-19 pandemic started, passing over 2.7 times of the total number of these applications.
Such increase in the number of the applications is considered as being due to the increase in demands and interest in the masks to keep health and life from the respiratory diseases caused by fine dust designated as carcinogen (2013), MERS (2015) and COVID-19 (2020).
By applicants, the number of the relevant applications filed by foreigners including foreign companies stagnated whereas the number of the relevant applications filed by Korean applicants including small and medium companies and individuals has continued to increase. The rate of the applications filed by foreign applicants to those filed by Korean applicants changed from 22.1% vs 77.9% (2013) to 1.7% vs 98.3% (2019).
The increase of the mask-related applications is the result of the Korean companies’ expansion in the global market according to the expansion of the mask market and the people’s various ideas to solve the inconvenience caused by wearing the mask throughout the day. The companies’ and people’s patent assets accumulated during this process are expected to continue to develop innovative products in the future.
Further, masks have been evolved as customized products with additional fucntions, such as a health care mask including a testing kit, a smart mask with an IoT (Internet of Things), an oxygen generation mask, a mask for pet, etc. The number of the relevant applications trends to increase.
Since March of this year, KIPO has provided the diverse patent information related to a mask through ‘COVID-19 IP information navigation’ at the KIPO homepage, to help Korean companies in developing masks.
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