Patent Office, Eradicating Technology Theft from SMEs through Inter-Agency Collaboration

[Asia Economy (Daejeon) Reporter Jeong Il-woong] The Korean Intellectual Property Office (KIPO) is eradicating technology theft of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) through inter-ministerial collaboration.

On the 25th, KIPO announced at the '5th Win-Win Coordination Committee' that it will support technical advisory services for administrative investigations on technology theft conducted by the Ministry of SMEs and Startups and the Fair Trade Commission.

Typically, administrative investigations on technology theft often require technical judgment, making it difficult for each ministry to investigate cases independently.

Accordingly, KIPO recently provided pilot technical advisory support for four suspected technology theft cases requested by the Ministry of SMEs and Startups and the Fair Trade Commission, and the requesting agencies took administrative actions based on the advisory results.

Reflecting the results of the pilot operation, KIPO will take charge of providing technical advisory support for administrative investigations on technology theft going forward. This aims to enhance the reliability and consistency of government investigations by utilizing the technical expertise of over 1,100 KIPO examiners and trial officers.

Currently, under the Act on the Protection of Small and Medium Enterprise Technology, the Ministry of SMEs and Startups handles technology infringement by SMEs, the Fair Trade Commission handles the misuse of technical data under the Subcontracting Act, and KIPO conducts administrative investigations on idea theft.

The Win-Win Coordination Committee is a public-private joint committee to eradicate technology theft and unfair trade, chaired by the Minister of SMEs and Startups.

Cheon Se-chang, Deputy Commissioner of KIPO, stated, “When the Ministry of SMEs and Startups’ extensive field connections, the Fair Trade Commission’s investigative authority and enforcement power, and KIPO’s technical expertise come together, the effectiveness of eradicating technology theft can be significantly increased.” He added, “KIPO will strive to act as a catalyst in the inter-ministerial cooperative relationship to eradicate technology theft.”

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