Patent Office Supports Customized Trade Secret Management for Companies and Institutions

[Asia Economy (Daejeon) Reporter Jeong Il-woong] The Korean Intellectual Property Office (KIPO) supports customized trade secret management for companies and institutions.

KIPO announced on the 11th that it is recruiting applicants for the 'Advanced Trade Secret Management System Consulting' program until the 22nd.

The recruitment targets small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), mid-sized companies, universities, and public research institutions, selecting 30 organizations each in the first and second half of the year (a total of 60 organizations) through a public competition.

The consulting involves experts conducting on-site interviews with companies and institutions to identify vulnerabilities in each area of trade secret management and providing customized trade secret management plans based on company size, industry, and the type of information handled.

Trade secrets refer to technical or managerial information that is not publicly known and holds independent economic value. The consulting focuses on ensuring that trade secrets are managed properly to receive legal protection.

KIPO plans to support systematic improvements in institutional and human aspects, such as secret classification and review of forms and regulations, and to establish management measures in the physical domain, including separation and storage of confidential materials and usage restrictions.

Through this, it has been identified that the level of trade secret management systems in companies participating in the consulting improved by an average of 32% before and after the consulting in 2020, and by 33% last year.

For more detailed information about the consulting, please refer to the KIPO website or contact the Trade Secret Protection Center.

Moon Sam-seop, Director of the Industrial Property Protection Cooperation Bureau at KIPO, said, “The core of protecting companies’ and institutions’ technical data as trade secrets is ‘secret’ management,” adding, “KIPO aims to implement this consulting to help companies and institutions struggling with trade secret management establish management systems tailored to their individual circumstances.”

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