Technical Development
The South Korean government has decided to invest 743.5 billion won (US$644.95 million) next year in 34 projects such as the technical development of cutting-edge converged contents, creation support of standard essential patents, and the dissemination of national standard technical developments, in order to strengthen the competitiveness of national intellectual property rights.
The government held the 14th Presidential Council on Intellectual Property (Co-chairmen Hwang Kyo-ahn and Yun Jong-yong) at the Government Complex Seoul on July 22 to vote for nine schemes in a bid to promote the intellectual property (IP) rights industry.
The government realized that there are 384 IP businesses under 19 departments in the IP industry worth 8.73 trillion won (US$7.57 billion), and decided to focus investments worth 743.5 billion won (US$644.95 million) into 34 selected businesses under eight departments that urgently need further investments now.
Thirty-four core IP businesses are divided into three large sectors; IP to create high value, IP protection for technology-intensive companies, and IP transactions and financial businesses. The committee selected eight subjects in the high value-added IP business sector, such as converged content technical development, standard original patent security, software-based new industry promotion, and international competitiveness enhancement in design. Also, it chose seven subjects in the technology-intensive industry to support, including the establishment of industrial technology security infrastructure, technology protection support for small and mid-size enterprises, activation of copyright protection activities, and the establishment of biodiversity preservation and management infrastructure in the Korean Peninsula. Moreover, it selected seven subjects in the IP transactions sector such as support for a strategic business of patent technology, research and development rediscovery project, support for technology diffusion, and investment activation for cultural content.
Furthermore, the Presidential Council on Intellectual Property has decided how to respond to the change of the IP rights environment in China, the nation’s largest export market and the world’s largest IP market, and plans to come up with measures to protect the nation’s IP rights in the Chinese market.
The Presidential Council on Intellectual Property has confirmed an “Opening Patent and Promotion Plan,” which reduces patent fees if a company makes its patents free of charge. Also, it announced a plan to activate patent opening and transfer by methodically cooperating with Creative Economy Innovation Centers and supporting follow-up businesses.