Patent Office Holds Nationwide Tour 'Design Protection Forum'

The Korean Intellectual Property Office (KIPO) will tour the country to guide small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and designers on the Design Protection Act.

On the 16th, KIPO announced that starting from August 17 at the Design-Driven Manufacturing Innovation Center located in Geumcheon-gu, Seoul, it will hold a "Design Protection Forum" targeting regional SMEs and designers in Gwangju (August 25), Changwon (September 1), and Gumi (September 8).

The forum is designed as an opportunity for experts in various fields to introduce strategies for effectively protecting design creations using intellectual property rights and methods to utilize existing registered design rights data for new product development.

In particular, KIPO’s Special Judicial Police for Technology and Design will serve as instructors to explain how to respond to cases of design infringement.

The forum will be held at four Design-Driven Manufacturing Innovation Centers operated by the Korea Institute of Design Promotion. These centers support projects that combine manufacturing experience accumulated by regional SMEs and mid-sized companies with design to plan unique brand products.

KIPO expects the forum to contribute to raising awareness of design rights among SMEs and mid-sized companies.

Anyone interested in intellectual property rights can attend the forum free of charge. For more details, inquiries can be made through KIPO’s Design Examination Policy Division.

Gu Young-min, Director of the Trademark and Design Examination Bureau at KIPO, said, “South Korea ranks fourth in the world for the number of design applications,” but added, “However, intellectual property rights still remain a complex and challenging area for SMEs and designers.”

He continued, “The forum is planned to enhance the industry’s understanding of design rights, listen to voices from the field, and provide proactive administrative services such as designing laws and systems that are friendly to designers.”

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