The Ministry of Intellectual Property said on the 1st it set next year's 2027 budget proposal at 710.6 billion won, up 12.7% from this year. Major project costs to be invested in creating, using and protecting intellectual property amount to 473.1 billion won, an increase of 14.1%.
The Ministry of Intellectual Property plans to focus next year's budget on intellectual property (IP) revenue generation and technology protection, building regional IP ecosystems, and advancing IP administration using artificial intelligence (AI).
First, to support overseas revenue generation of outstanding domestic patents, 13 billion won was newly allocated to the "global technology hegemony foundational patent acquisition support" project, which helps secure overseas patents. It will also resume investments in the parent fund-of-funds to inject 20 billion won and support the creation of funds related to overseas revenue generation.
Support for technology commercialization by small and midsize enterprises will also be expanded. The budget for IP-based technology commercialization strategy support will rise from 10 billion won this year to 25.1 billion won next year. The number of intellectual property transaction professionals will be expanded from 22 to 36, and 2.7 billion won will be newly invested in IP transaction and commercialization consulting projects targeting technology licensing offices (TLOs) at universities and public research institutes.
A new budget was also prepared to respond to overseas technology leaks and counterfeit goods. It allocated 12.3 billion won to a project that analyzes vulnerabilities in technology protection for key industries such as semiconductors and shipbuilding and supports company-specific protection strategies. It will invest 2.5 billion won in developing technologies to respond to the distribution of counterfeit goods and industrial espionage crimes, and 400 million won in joint responses to overseas counterfeit goods in cooperation with Interpol and others.
It will also push a new 17.3 billion won project to expand the regional intellectual property base. It will support brand and design development using regional heritage assets and specialized industries, as well as commercialization of youth startups, and it plans to operate IP vouchers for young people. The next-generation gifted entrepreneur education institutions will be expanded from the current KAIST and Pohang University of Science and Technology POSTECH to three by adding one in the southwest region.
Use of artificial intelligence (AI) in intellectual property administration will also be expanded. It newly allocated 4.3 billion won to build an AI-based next-generation patent search system, and it will invest 1.7 billion won to introduce AI summarization and comparison functions to the Korea Intellectual Property Rights Information Service (KIPRIS). It also allocated 2.1 billion won to develop an AI agent that searches and processes intellectual property dispute information.
Minister Kim Yong-seon of the Ministry of Intellectual Property said, "We plan to concentrate next year's investment on revenue generation from overseas patents and preventing technology leaks in the nation's advanced strategic industries."
The Ministry of Intellectual Property's 2027 budget proposal and fund management plan are scheduled to be finalized in December after deliberation by the National Assembly standing committee and the Special Committee on Budget & Accounts and a vote at a plenary session.