The government will move to monetize intellectual property by linking the securing of overseas patents for outstanding domestic technologies to transfer and investment. Although Korea ranks fourth in the world in the number of domestic patent applications, officials judge its capacity to sell patents or turn them into royalty revenue is lacking.
The Ministry of Intellectual Property reported its second-half work plan with these details at the Blue House State Guest House on the 4th. In the second half of this year, the Ministry of Intellectual Property will select 50 outstanding technologies owned by universities and public research institutions and support securing overseas patents. It will also designate 20 specialized companies that generate revenue by selling or licensing patents overseas as leading companies.
An intellectual property (IP) revenue monetization and transaction fund that invests in related corporations and technologies will be created at 140 billion won this year, and the scale of IP finance that evaluates the value of patents and trademarks to lead to loans and investment will be expanded to 13.3 trillion won.
Minister Kim Yong-seon of the Ministry of Intellectual Property said at a pre-briefing on the 3rd, "For private corporations to do business overseas, they first need to secure outstanding patents that can be monetized," and added, "We will identify unused outstanding technologies, secure overseas patents, and provide that information to the private sector."
A system will also be established to integrate the management of patents and copyrights scattered across ministries, local governments, and public institutions. In the second half of this year, an integrated search service will launch to look up patents, trademarks, and copyrights at once, and starting next year, a "national IP database (DB)" will be created by gathering IP information from each institution and ideas from the public.
The Minister said, "Unlike state-owned property such as buildings and land, it has been difficult to systematically grasp the overall status of intangible property such as patents and copyrights," and explained, "Through the integrated system, we will be able to activate private transfer and commercialization."
In the "Ideas for all" program, which consolidates ideas from the public into startups or policies, 100 out of approximately 27,000 submissions are being selected and refined. In Oct., 60 finalists will be chosen to support startup launches, product development, and policy adoption.
The dedicated unit responding to technology theft and overseas technology leaks has been expanded from one division with 27 people to four divisions with 61 people. The Ministry of Intellectual Property will broaden the scope of investigations to include technology theft from small and midsize companies and overseas leaks of advanced technologies, and plans to shorten the case processing period from 19.6 months as of Jun. to 15 months by the end of the year.
In Oct., the "K-brand government certification system" to verify genuine products in K-beauty, food, fashion, and more will be implemented. Certification marks will be registered in 70 major export destinations, and the government and corporations will respond jointly when counterfeit goods are found overseas.
Artificial intelligence (AI) will be introduced into IP administration and patent and trademark examinations. A revision to the Unfair Competition Prevention Act will also be pursued in the second half to respond to new unauthorized uses such as "digital replicas," which use AI to recreate a person's face or voice realistically.
Next, the patent examination waiting period will be shortened from the current 14.4 months to 14 months, and in the case of trademarks, from 11.4 months to 11.2 months. Applications related to youth startups and the government's "three mega projects" will be included in the ultra-fast examination track to provide results within one month.
Meanwhile, in the regions, 10 local assets will be selected to support securing trademark rights and developing product designs. In three zones, including the southeast and Honam regions, comprehensive IP support centers will be newly established to support regional corporations in securing patents, commercialization, and dispute response.
The Minister said, "Going forward, we will build an innovation ecosystem in which the value of IP is fully realized in the market, and we will focus policy capabilities so that IP can become a solid growth asset for the public and corporations and a key driver of Korea's great economic leap."