Gyeongbuk Province Expands Jurisdiction Alongside Renaming to 'Regional Intellectual Property Center'

Providing Intellectual Property Consulting Support Near Local Companies... Easing Inconveniences for Small and Medium Enterprises

The photo shows the plaque unveiling ceremony at the Gyeongbuk Northern Intellectual Property Center.

[Asia Economy Yeongnam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Choi Jae-ho] Gyeongbuk Province held a plaque ceremony for the 'Gyeongbuk Western Intellectual Property Center' on the 16th at the Andong Chamber of Commerce and Industry and the Gumi Chamber of Commerce and Industry. The event was attended by Kim Yong-rae, Commissioner of the Korean Intellectual Property Office, Kwon Young-se, Mayor of Andong, Jang Se-yong, Mayor of Gumi, members of the National Assembly, and provincial councilors.

This plaque ceremony was arranged as the Andong Intellectual Property Center and Gumi Intellectual Property Center, which have been operating since 2009, changed their names to Regional Intellectual Property Centers this year, expanding their jurisdiction to cover the northern and western areas of Gyeongbuk Province.

With this name change, the IP Narae project, previously managed solely by the Gyeongbuk Intellectual Property Center (located in Pohang), will now be jointly handled by the two centers, enabling support for intellectual property-related difficulties at a closer distance to local companies within the province.

The 'IP Narae project' is a government initiative that provides technology and management consulting based on IP (intellectual property) to small and medium-sized enterprises within seven years of establishment or within five years of business transformation.

Gyeongbuk Province operates three regional intellectual property centers within the province to raise awareness of industrial property rights among local SMEs and residents and to support the creation, protection, and utilization of industrial property rights.

Next year, Gyeongbuk Province plans to invest 4.8 billion KRW in budgets to support customized intellectual property consulting for SMEs through programs such as SME IP Direct Support and the IP Narae program, as well as to provide education to raise awareness of intellectual property.

Lee Cheol-woo, Governor of Gyeongbuk Province, stated, "Creative technologies and ideas become great assets that drive the country's economy and society," and urged, "I ask the provincial intellectual property centers to strive to provide substantial service support to strengthen the intellectual property of local prospective entrepreneurs and SMEs."

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