South Korea and China have signed a partnership agreement aimed at strengthening cooperation on intellectual property protection, on the sidelines of a summit between South Korean President Lee Jae Myung and Chinese President Xi Jinping.

According to Seoul’s Ministry of Intellectual Property, the new memorandum of understanding expands and upgrades the bilateral cooperative framework first established in 2021, significantly widening the scope of collaboration between the two countries.

The agreement covers a range of areas, including the prevention of counterfeit goods, the application of artificial intelligence and big data in patent examination and analysis, and the promotion of IP trading, commercialization and finance.

According to the ministry, the partnership is intended to improve the business environment for Korean companies operating in China by facilitating faster acquisition and stronger protection of their intellectual property rights, thereby enhancing their competitiveness in the Chinese market.

Ahead of the signing, Ministry of Intellectual Property Commissioner Kim Yong-sun held a bilateral meeting with Shen Changyu, commissioner of the China National Intellectual Property Administration, to exchange views on IP policies, assess the current state of cooperation, and discuss future strategic directions.

Both sides also agreed to strengthen joint responses to bad-faith trademark filings – practices in which trademarks already in use are preemptively registered by others for unfair commercial gain.

“This memorandum, along with enhanced cooperation against bad-faith trademark squatting, will help more effectively protect Korean brands operating in China,” Kim said in a statement. “We will continue to deepen international IP cooperation to support our companies’ exports and global expansion.”

- Excel V. Dyquiangco