K-Diagnostic Kit No. 1 Patent Registered by Armed Forces Medical Command for COVID-19

[Asia Economy (Daejeon) Reporter Jeong Il-woong] The Korea Armed Forces Medical Command's novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) diagnostic technology will become the first to receive patent registration in the domestic COVID-19 diagnostic technology field.

According to the Korean Intellectual Property Office (KIPO) on the 20th, the Korea Armed Forces Medical Command applied for prioritized examination of the COVID-19 diagnostic technology registration last February. In response, KIPO gathered the opinions of three patent examiners and conducted a rapid examination, deciding to grant patent registration for the diagnostic technology. This was achieved within two months of application.

In particular, the Korea Armed Forces Medical Command's diagnostic technology is recorded as the first case of patent registration among domestically produced diagnostic kits during the COVID-19 pandemic (global outbreak) situation.

The technology uses Reverse Transcription Loop-Mediated Isothermal Amplification (RT-LAMP), which has the advantage of reducing diagnostic time to within one hour with a smaller sample. It meets the core requirement of COVID-19 diagnostic technology, which requires rapid diagnosis of infection status due to its strong transmissibility.

Currently, over 20 COVID-19 diagnostic technologies related to shortening test time and improving accuracy have been filed domestically, with two of them included in the prioritized examination (patent registration) list.

Accordingly, KIPO plans to support rapid rights acquisition for COVID-19 diagnostic technologies through a “consensus-type collaborative examination” by three specialized examiners in the relevant field. The purpose is to help domestic companies gain an advantage in international competition with excellent technology in fields such as COVID-19 diagnostics and to enhance competitiveness through rapid acquisition of excellent patents.

Baek Young-ran, head of the Bio Healthcare Examination Division at KIPO, said, “Patent applications related to COVID-19 diagnostic technology are expected to continue increasing,” and added, “KIPO will conduct rapid and accurate examinations of patent technologies in the bio-healthcare field, including COVID-19 diagnostic technology, considering that rapid diagnosis is crucial to prevent the spread of COVID-19 infection.”

She also added, “Through rapid examination and patent registration, we will actively support domestic companies to lead the ’K-Bio‘ era.”

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.