"The World Faces Copyright Wars... Squid Game and BTS Must Take Preemptive Action"

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[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Bong-su] Recently, South Korea has achieved remarkable quantitative growth in the field of intellectual property (IP), ranking 7th in the world for reaching 2 million patents (in 2019) and 4th globally in patent application volume last year. Notably, despite the COVID-19 pandemic crisis, the cultural wave (Hallyu) content that captivated the world helped the cultural and artistic copyright trade balance record a surplus for the first time ever last year. However, the proportion of high-quality patents remains low, the success rate of technology transfer commercialization and patent utilization rates are declining, and the content industry is losing ground in competition with global platform companies such as Google and Netflix. Even the recent global hit “Ojingeo Game” (Squid Game) is being illegally distributed in China without any effective countermeasures.

On the occasion of the 10th anniversary of the establishment of the “National Intellectual Property Committee,” founded in 2011 under the President’s office, a roundtable discussion was held with IP experts from academia, industry, and research institutes, as well as heads of major organizations, to review the achievements and limitations in the field of intellectual property so far and to discuss ways to foster a healthy IP ecosystem in the future. Participants unanimously agreed on the need to strengthen protection of intellectual property rights such as content copyrights, improve utilization by increasing the success rate of technology transfer, and enhance qualitative improvements.

- How would you evaluate South Korea’s current capabilities related to intellectual property?

Kang Hak-hee, Director of Korea Kolmar Technology Research Institute = I recently saw news that South Korea ranked 5th, the highest ever, in the Global Innovation Index announced by the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), a UN agency. This is because continuous investment has been made despite the difficult internal and external circumstances, including the COVID-19 situation. However, the quality of foundational and core patents in South Korea is relatively lower compared to major countries, and the level of IP protection is also weaker.

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Kim Bok-chul, Chairman of the National Research Council of Science & Technology = Among patents created through national research and development projects, the intellectual property capabilities of 25 government-funded research institutes have been continuously strengthened in terms of creation and utilization. In the past, the emphasis on quantity in public R&D achievements led to problems such as low patent utilization rates and low commercialization success rates. Recently, the focus has shifted from quantity to qualitative growth, concentrating on creating high value-added patents.

Lee Kwang-hyung, President of KAIST = There have been remarkable achievements in the creation of intellectual property. The problem lies in utilization, which has failed to meet public expectations and caused disappointment. Many patents, so-called “jangnong patents” (literally “wardrobe patents,” meaning unused patents), have been filed. I believe this phenomenon stems from an evaluation system focused on quantity. We need to strengthen qualitative aspects to correct this issue.

- How do you evaluate the achievements of the National Intellectual Property Committee over the past 10 years?

Kim Bok-chul, Chairman = The committee has faithfully performed institutional and policy roles in the creation, management, utilization, and protection of intellectual property at the national level, producing many achievements. Going forward, with the innovation of industries through ICT-based convergence technologies and the major shift to a digital and data economy triggered by the global COVID-19 pandemic, the role of the national intellectual property control tower will become even more important.

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Choi Byung-gu, Chairman of the Korea Copyright Commission = Especially since last year, to overcome the difficulties faced by society due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the committee has played a key role as a whole-of-government intellectual property control tower, including patents related to COVID-19 diagnostics and quarantine technologies, contributing to the success of K-quarantine.

- Intellectual property rights are expected to become even more important in the era of the Fourth Industrial Revolution.

Kang Hak-hee, Director = Major countries such as the United States and Japan are using the Fourth Industrial Revolution as a breakthrough for low growth and are preparing innovation policies to enhance industrial competitiveness. The Fourth Industrial Revolution is driven by soft power such as innovative ideas. Intellectual property is a requirement for winners of the Fourth Industrial Revolution; innovation and value creation will occur in countries that strongly protect IP. By creating foundational and core patents and protecting and strengthening IP rights of SMEs and venture companies based on IP, job creation and economic activation will follow.

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Lee Kwang-hyung, President = A characteristic of the Fourth Industrial Revolution is the digitalization of all industrial production processes. The creation, protection, and management of increasingly invisible intellectual property have become more important.

Jung Sang-jo, Chairman of the National Intellectual Property Committee = The COVID-19 pandemic has accelerated the growth of non-face-to-face industries and digital transformation, ushering in an era of innovation and convergence. Intellectual property has risen beyond the economic value of individuals or individual companies to become a strategic asset directly linked to national security, public health, and citizens’ quality of life. In this era, the opportunity for a new leap forward that we must pursue requires legal and institutional innovation to improve research and creative environments and deregulation, with intellectual property at the center.

- What are the priority tasks and areas for improvement to become a strong intellectual property nation?

Kim Bok-chul, Chairman = To leap forward as a strong IP nation, qualitative growth that enables abundant IP resources to lead to innovation is most important. To this end, we must strengthen the linkage between R&D and IP, expand IP-R&D based on corporate demand, and continuously promote the strengthening of IP management capabilities in public research institutes, universities, and companies.

Lee Kwang-hyung, President = There is a need to further strengthen intellectual property, especially patent protection. Even when winning patent infringement lawsuits, the average compensation awarded is about 60 million KRW. This contributes to the notion that patents are useless. The government should be cautious when granting patents and must strongly protect them once granted. Increasing the number of patent examiners and imposing strong punitive damages on patent infringers are necessary.

Choi Byung-gu, Chairman = For our copyrighted works such as Hallyu content to lead global mainstream culture and for domestic copyright legislation to become a global standard, it is important to establish a position as a leading copyright nation through building a global copyright hub. Expanding international exchange and cooperation in the copyright field will make us the center of a global network of copyright experts and create a favorable environment for the global advancement of our works.

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- What are the key focuses in the 3rd Basic Plan for Intellectual Property Rights to be established this year?

Jung Sang-jo, Chairman = This plan is significant in that it presents a blueprint for South Korea as a future intellectual property powerhouse by closely linking IP with national security, public health, economic development, and quality of life, considering new domestic and international environmental changes. It will accelerate the creation and dissemination of K-content that can nurture global small and medium-sized enterprises based on IP and lead digital platforms.

- Please give advice for the next 10 years of the National Intellectual Property Committee.

Kang Hak-hee, Director = We must establish an IP utilization system so that excellent R&D outcomes are converted into high-quality intellectual property rights and effectively transferred and commercialized in industry. We should provide networks to activate IP transactions and increase support for selecting and utilizing excellent IP and promoting commercialization of corporate IP.

Kim Bok-chul, Chairman = Based on the experience of the past 10 years, we must derive and implement various policy and institutional strategic tasks such as securing and utilizing IP throughout the entire R&D cycle to enable the IP ecosystem to develop innovatively over the next 10 years.

Lee Kwang-hyung, President = International politics used to be based on geopolitics, but now it has shifted to a power struggle based on technology. The conflict between the U.S. and China is fundamentally rooted in intellectual property. We must play a role in comprehensively collecting and managing such technology-related information.

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Choi Byung-gu, Chairman = The environment for creation and use of works is rapidly changing with artificial intelligence, big data, and the metaverse (extended virtual world). It is necessary to establish an organic legal system covering intellectual property rights, including copyright law, that can respond to various changes such as AI-based creation and use of works in the metaverse environment. Recently, numerous Korean contents such as Ojingeo Game (Squid Game), BTS, and Parasite have attracted global attention, proving the influence of our cultural content. We must recognize the importance of copyright and strengthen international cooperation systems in related fields. In particular, we need to proactively respond to copyright issues of various new contents and prepare measures to promote the copyright industry.

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