KIPO Reorganization Underway
02 December 2013
The Korean Intellectual Property Office (KIPO) is undergoing the largest structural reorganization in its history, seven months after its new commissioner Kim Young-Min took office.
This reorganization aims at providing better patent examination services, KIPO said in a statement, along with its mission to enhance technological innovation and industrial development through the facilitation, creation, utilization and protection of IP.
“This restructuring will allow KIPO to build a premium examination service for patent applications of fusion technologies and enhance systems to protect intellectual property rights, while also providing easier and better public access to IP information,” the statement said.
“As the convergence of technologies has been the buzzword from a long time ago, it seems that this restructuring is already a little bit overdue. This restructuring would be helpful for efficient examinations ultimately,” says Rana Lee, founding partner and president at EZ International Patent & Trademark Law Office in Seoul.
Technology innovation is a key factor for South Korean companies to remain competitive among the world business. This reorganization will put more weight on fusion technologies, “allowing for an effective response to the latest emerging trends in cuttingedge technology,” the KIPO statement said.
“At the initial stage, it might be difficult for the examiners to be accustomed to the new structure. To reduce the initial stage’s clumsiness and save time, guidelines for collaborative examinations should be prepared,” Lee says. “Also, the new organization is flexible in allocating patent applications to the examiners so that the examination time variance between technologies could be reduced.”
KIPO has emphasized its determination to fight counterfeit goods by establishing the Intellectual Property Investigation Division to lead the crackdown on such action.
Lee tells Asia IP that the new division would enhance KIPO’s anti-counterfeit function. “With the advancement of technologies and brands, it is getting more difficult to prevent from trading counterfeit goods,” says Lee. “I believe that the newly-made IP investigation division would overcome such difficulties so as to be helpful to create a culture of respect for others’ intellectual properties and fair compensation.”
