Patent Office Establishes 'International Joint Investigation System'... "Responding to Overseas Technology Leakage"

The Korean Intellectual Property Office (KIPO) is taking action to respond to overseas technology leakage and intellectual property rights infringement crimes by establishing an international cooperative investigation system.

On the 24th, KIPO announced plans to launch an International Cooperative Investigation Research Advisory Committee composed of experts from academia, the legal profession, and investigative fields to set research directions for building an international cooperative investigation system.

Provided by the Korean Intellectual Property Office

The advisory committee will be inaugurated on the 25th at KIPO’s Seoul Office located in Gangnam-gu, Seoul, where the "1st Advisory Meeting" will be held.

According to the National Intelligence Service, the damage caused by the leakage of domestic national core technologies overseas from 2018 to 2022 is estimated to be at least 25 trillion won. However, there have been limitations in identifying the whereabouts of criminals who fled abroad and information on companies involved in overseas leakage, making it difficult to apprehend offenders involved in overseas technology leakage and intellectual property rights infringement crimes.

In response, KIPO plans to establish an international cooperative investigation system by forming the advisory committee. At the first advisory meeting, expert presentations and case sharing were conducted to support this effort.

First, Police Inspector Choi Chan-gyu from the Interpol International Cooperation Division of the National Police Agency shared cooperation cases among the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, Interpol, and the National Police Agency centered on the "I-SOP (Interpol Stop-Online Piracy)" project to respond to copyright infringement.

Additionally, Patent Attorney Lee Won-jae of Yulchon LLC presented international criminal judicial cooperation cases related to overseas technology leakage crimes, and Professor Choi Ho-jin of Dankook University’s Department of Law, who will serve as the chief researcher for the policy research project, presented on the "Research Directions for Establishing an International Cooperative Investigation System to Respond to Overseas Technology Leakage and Intellectual Property Rights Infringement Crimes."

Based on the research directions derived from the advisory meeting, KIPO plans to conduct in-depth research to establish an effective international cooperative investigation system by monitoring overseas investigation cooperation systems in major countries such as the United States, China, and Southeast Asia; establishing networks to identify the whereabouts of criminals residing abroad; and deriving investigative techniques for recovering criminal proceeds. KIPO will also formulate promotion strategies and implementation plans accordingly.

Kim Si-hyung, Director of the Industrial Property Protection Cooperation Bureau at KIPO, stated, "We hope that the launch of the advisory committee and the policy research project will serve as a foundation for effectively responding to overseas technology leakage and intellectual property rights infringement crimes." He added, "KIPO will continue to make efforts to establish an organic international cooperative system with international investigative agencies such as Interpol and the U.S. Homeland Security Investigations (HSI)."

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