LG Energy Solution received the first registered patent in an advanced technology field under the "ultra-fast examination" system, which cuts patent examination to around a month. With the patent registered 19 days after applying for the ultra-fast examination, it became the first case showing how quickly the system can work in practice.
The Intellectual Property Office said on the 16th that it will hold a certificate presentation for the first "No. 1 patent" registered since the launch of the ultra-fast examination, along with a roundtable with corporations that have used the system, in Yongsan-gu, Seoul. At the event, to mark the registration of LG Energy Solution's patent for "electrode assembly and apparatus for manufacturing electrode assembly" as the "No. 1 patent in ultra-fast examination for advanced technology," a patent registration certificate signed in person by the head of the Intellectual Property Office will be delivered.
Haecheon Chemical Co., Ltd. also registered a patent for an "eco-friendly de-icer containing biomass" 21 days after applying for ultra-fast examination, becoming the first "No. 1 patent in export-promotion ultra-fast examination." The Intellectual Property Office plans to share experiences and suggestions for improvement in using the system with corporations that have utilized ultra-fast examination, including the two corporations.
Ultra-fast examination is a system introduced in Oct. this year with the launch of the Intellectual Property Office to help domestic export corporations secure patent rights quickly. While patent examination typically took an average of 16.1 months as of last year, ultra-fast examination aims to cut that to about one month.
According to the Intellectual Property Office, as of the 10th, 128 applications had been filed for ultra-fast examination, and five of them received decisions for registration. The time from application to decision for registration averaged 25.1 days based on registered cases.
The Intellectual Property Office plans to increase the volume of ultra-fast examinations starting next year. It will expand the cap, currently limited to 500 cases each for the export-promotion and advanced-technology fields, to 2,000 cases each, and will also remove the limit of three cases per corporation currently in place for the export-promotion field.
Kim Yong-seon, head of the Intellectual Property Office, said, "Securing patent rights quickly is the first step to overcoming protectionist trade barriers and laying the groundwork for entering overseas markets," and "we will further shorten examination periods while improving examination quality to actively support domestic corporations' export growth."