Busan City Expands Support Project for Overseas Certification Acquisition and Intellectual Property Rights Securing

Busan City (Mayor Park Hyungjun) and the Busan Economic Promotion Agency (President Song Bokcheol) are expanding their support programs to help local small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) obtain overseas certification for export products and secure intellectual property rights.

Busan City announced on the 12th that starting this year, eligibility for support has been expanded to companies with export volumes of up to $30 million in the previous year. In addition, to diversify export destinations, the scope of supported regions, which was previously limited to China and ASEAN countries, has now been expanded to worldwide.

This year, 20 SMEs from the Busan area will be selected for support based on Busan City's overseas marketing support project evaluation criteria, including local market potential and export competitiveness.

Newly participating companies and export beginners will be given additional points to provide them with priority opportunities to enter the market, while companies that have received support three or more times will be excluded from eligibility. This is intended to improve fairness in support and allow more companies to benefit.

Selected companies will receive support for up to two cases, with a maximum total of 6 million KRW, covering 80% of the required expenses. For overseas certification acquisition, the entire process is supported, from product consulting and sample testing to approval by the relevant country and issuance of the certificate.

For securing intellectual property rights, support will be provided for costs such as prior research, specification preparation, and translation required for trademark, patent, design, and utility model applications in the relevant country.

Companies wishing to participate in the program can apply through the Busan City Overseas Marketing Integrated System by March 21.

Busan City is proactively promoting this project, judging that with the expansion of online trade and the development of digital technology, cases of trademark infringement and counterfeiting are rapidly increasing. Malicious trademark infringement and the distribution of low-quality counterfeit goods can cause serious damage to local companies, such as a decline in brand image and reduced profits.

The Economic Policy Division of Busan City explained that since most countries adopt a first-to-file principle, companies that have had their trademarks infringed often face disadvantages even if they file infringement lawsuits to recover their property rights.

In particular, SMEs without specialized intellectual property personnel are more vulnerable to trademark infringement, making it necessary to provide preventive support so that their carefully developed products are not illegally copied or preempted overseas.

Busan City is also promoting various support measures, such as support for companies affected by exchange rate fluctuations and export logistics costs, to address urgent on-site difficulties in response to the protectionist policies and strengthening of non-tariff barriers in various countries.

Kim Bongcheol, Director of Busan City's Digital Economy Office, said, "Obtaining overseas certification and applying for intellectual property rights require expertise and high costs, so support for local SMEs with limited manpower and financial resources is desperately needed. Through this support program, we plan to actively help SMEs strengthen their export competitiveness in the global market and prevent potential intellectual property disputes when entering overseas markets in advance."

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