1.2 Trillion Invested in National Intellectual Property Projects This Year... Ministry of Health and Welfare and Ministry of Foreign Affairs Receive Top Ratings

National Intellectual Property Committee Finalizes This Year's Business Plan and Completes Last Year's Evaluation on the 29th

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Bong-su] The government will invest 1.2251 trillion won in national intellectual property projects this year. Additionally, the Ministry of Health and Welfare's support project for creating a biohealth technology business ecosystem and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs' response to overseas IP infringement were selected as the best projects of last year.

The Presidential National Intellectual Property Committee held its 29th meeting on the afternoon of the 29th and approved four agenda items including these details. The committee first finalized this year's national intellectual property implementation plan, which includes investing 1.2251 trillion won in national intellectual property projects, a 20.5% increase compared to the previous year (1.166 trillion won). Key points include the government's plan to divide the current IP evaluation agency certification system into two stages and apply a promotion and relegation system to differentiate certification requirements for evaluation agencies, thereby lowering the entry barrier. Previously, the condition required 10 evaluators, but from now on, the first stage will allow agencies with 5 or more evaluators.

For innovative small and venture companies or technology startups, related projects will be linked to simultaneously support research and development (R&D) and IP (intellectual property)-R&D.

At the same time, the government will solidify regions responding to unauthorized overseas trademark preemption and online counterfeit product distribution, and support the demonstration of an artificial intelligence (AI) integrated illegal replica detection system. Specifically, the government will expand the regions responding to unauthorized overseas trademark preemption from last year's China, Vietnam + Thailand to include Indonesia this year, and add six ASEAN countries and Taiwan to the regions responding to online counterfeit product distribution in addition to China. The budget for building the AI-integrated illegal replica detection system will also be increased from 4.8 billion won last year to 5.9 billion won this year for active promotion.

For content companies, the guarantee scale for loans from private financial institutions will be expanded from the existing 20 billion won to 25 billion won, while focusing on supporting startups and micro-enterprises with more than 50% of the total amount. Customized IP education by industry and target will also be strengthened to respond to demand for new IP-related job skills and foster convergence talents.

The committee also evaluated the implementation performance of national intellectual property plans by central administrative agencies and local governments last year and finalized the results. Five projects, including the Ministry of Health and Welfare's biohealth technology business ecosystem creation support project, were evaluated as best cases, and ten projects were recognized as excellent cases.

Furthermore, the direction of the 3rd basic plan, with the vision of "Leading global innovation through IP-based convergence in the digital transformation era," was finalized, and the operation period of the AP-IP Special Expert Committee was extended by one year from June this year to June next year.

Chairman Jeong Sang-jo said, "This year marks the completion of the 2nd basic plan and the preparation of the new 3rd basic plan, summarizing the achievements so far. In the rapidly changing environment of the 4th Industrial Revolution, including AI and blockchain, the value and importance of intellectual property are becoming increasingly significant."

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