KIPO to Hire Retired Private Sector Experts as Patent Examiners in Semiconductor Field

[Asia Economy (Daejeon) Reporter Jeong Il-woong] The Korean Intellectual Property Office (KIPO) is hiring retired private-sector personnel in the semiconductor field as specialized term patent examiners.

On the 15th, KIPO announced that it will recruit specialized term patent examiners in the semiconductor field from the 1st to the 7th of next month. The total number of recruits is 30. By field, the positions are subdivided into ▲ semiconductor design and materials (4 people) ▲ lithography and deposition (6 people) ▲ etching, cleaning, and substrate (6 people) ▲ assembly, inspection, and packaging (4 people) ▲ materials (6 people) ▲ and display specialized technology (4 people).

Applicants must have experience and degrees related to semiconductor technology. KIPO plans to announce the final successful candidates in February next year after document screening and interviews. Work experience in each field will be given priority during recruitment.

The recruitment of specialized term patent examiners in the semiconductor field is regarded as the result of five months of consultation with the Ministry of the Interior and Safety and the Ministry of Economy and Finance.

Specialized term patent examiners are national public officials equivalent to grade 5, and unlike general public officials, they have no retirement age. The initial contract is maintained for two years, and depending on individual ability and health conditions, they can work for up to 10 years without age restrictions.

Also, private-sector experience is recognized, so the salary (annual pay) is set higher than that of newly hired general grade 5 public officials. The annual salary will be paid differentially depending on whether the applicant holds a master's or doctoral degree and their experience.

In particular, when hired as a specialized term patent examiner, existing pensions can be additionally linked with the government employee pension benefits. For example, if a retired private-sector worker with 11 years of National Pension subscription works at KIPO for 9 years, the government employee pension contribution period (9 years) is linked, and the total pension subscription period is recognized as 20 years, allowing them to receive both pensions.

Above all, KIPO expects that specialized term patent examiners, whose work is similar in nature to the technical research and analysis tasks they performed in the private sector, will be able to be immediately deployed and utilized in their duties.

Due to these advantages, KIPO anticipates that if the recruitment of specialized term patent examiners proceeds smoothly and their performance in the field is positive, it will be possible to hire more retired private-sector personnel next year.

Lee In-sil, Commissioner of KIPO, said, “The recruitment of specialized term patent examiners is being promoted as part of a strategy to secure an advantage in the global semiconductor hegemony competition,” adding, “Through this, KIPO expects to support the rapid acquisition of patents in the domestic semiconductor field and play a role in preventing the outflow of specialized personnel overseas.”

He also said, “Being hired as a specialized term patent examiner will provide private-sector semiconductor technology experts with an opportunity to start a second career in public service,” and “We hope for many applications from private-sector technology experts.”

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