‘Pyojun Teukheo Yeonguhoe’ Launched…KIPO Aims to Strengthen National Standard Patent Competitiveness

On the 10th, the Korean Intellectual Property Office (KIPO) announced that the "Standard Patent Research Association," involving industry, academia, research institutes, and government related to standard patents, will be launched at the KIPO Seoul Office.

Standard patents refer to patents that must be used when implementing standard technologies set by standardization organizations. Recently, with the convergence and fusion of information and communication technology (ICT), new industries such as connected cars and smart home appliances have emerged, expanding the influence of standard patents across the entire industrial sector.

In particular, in April last year, the European Commission (EC) proposed regulations to ensure transparency and predictability in standard patent licensing and is pushing for legislation, signaling rapid changes in the global standard patent environment.

In response, KIPO plans to use the "Standard Patent Research Association" as a bridge to share insights among standard patent experts and domestic and international stakeholders on policies, systems, and major industry issues related to standard patents, and to discuss future policy directions, thereby responding to changes in the standard patent environment through an "open governance" approach.

The Standard Patent Research Association will include about 20 participants, such as KIPO officials, large corporations, small and medium-sized enterprises, universities, public research institutes, and legal experts from related fields, to share opinions from diverse perspectives.

On the day of its launch, the Standard Patent Research Association will hold a session to share opinions on topics such as the EC’s proposed regulations on standard patents from last April and measures to strengthen the standard patent ecosystem to promote the creation and utilization of standard patents. Subsequently, it plans to expand the scope of research through biannual meetings.

Additionally, KIPO intends to strengthen national standard patent competitiveness by discovering promising technologies that require early standard patent acquisition, supporting public-private research and development (R&D) planning, and assisting industry, academia, and research institutes in securing standard patents aimed at acquiring standard technologies.

Mok Seong-ho, Director of the Industrial Property Policy Bureau at KIPO, stated, “The Standard Patent Research Association is significant in that domestic experts gather in one place to share and discuss policies and issues related to standard patents.” He added, “KIPO will continue to strengthen communication with industry and academia to implement policies that enhance standard patent competitiveness, which the public can directly experience.”

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