Patent Office Announces Contest for Innovative Products Based on Excellent Patents

[Asia Economy (Daejeon) Reporter Jeong Il-woong] The Korean Intellectual Property Office (KIPO) announced on the 14th that it will open a public recruitment for candidates of ‘Excellent Patent-Based Innovative Products’ from the 15th to the 26th of this month.

Innovative products are designated by the government to support the growth of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) by selecting products with outstanding technological innovation and utilizing public procurement power.

KIPO is conducting its first public recruitment this year to recommend various excellent patented products owned by SMEs as innovative products.

Excellent patent-based innovative products can be applied for by SMEs or individual business owners who hold at least one patent, utility model, or design right (including exclusive or non-exclusive licenses) and have applied such patents to their products.

Products designated as ‘innovative products’ become eligible for direct contract supply to public institutions and are also subject to the ‘Innovative Procurement Target System’ of public institutions. The Innovative Procurement Target System requires public institutions to purchase a certain percentage or more of their goods from innovative products.

Companies wishing to participate in the recruitment can apply through the Korea Invention Promotion Association website during the application period.

Submitted products will be evaluated by experts from KIPO (Korea Invention Promotion Association), recommended to the Ministry of Economy and Finance, and finally confirmed as ‘innovative products’ after passing the deliberation of the Procurement Policy Deliberation Committee.

Choi Byung-seok, Head of Patent Commercialization at KIPO, said, “We hope that the government’s public innovation procurement policy will provide an opportunity for excellent patented products from SMEs to be utilized in the public service sector, enhancing the convenience of citizens’ lives. KIPO will assist excellent patent-based products to enter the public procurement market through public recruitments in the first and second halves of this year.”

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