Employees of Samsung Electronics Co. check equipment of the clean room of its semiconductor production facility. (image: Samsung Electronics)
SEOUL, Sept. 8 (Korea Bizwire) — On Thursday, the Korean Intellectual Property Office (KIPO) announced its plans to hire 39 patent reviewers specializing in semiconductors as part of its efforts to prevent overseas technology leaks in the semiconductor field as well as a loss of skilled employees.
This marks the second open recruitment following the hiring of 30 private specialists in semiconductors back in March.
The KIPO will select these patent reviewers specializing in semiconductors based on a comprehensive evaluation that takes into account factors such as the number of patent applications, the characteristics of semiconductor technologies, and industry trends.
The hiring will be divided into seven specific areas, which include chip design, manufacturing process, outsourced semiconductor assembly and testing, semiconductor wafer transport and processing devices, display materials, OLED processing and devices, and specialized display technology.
Candidates with relevant work experience and an academic background in semiconductor technology can submit their applications from September 18 to 25.
To ensure that private experts with extensive field experience can fully leverage their capabilities in patent reviews, this recruitment process will give preference to candidates with practical field experience and professional expertise.
In addition to the semiconductor field, the KIPO also plans to hire four new patent reviewers in other technology areas, including biotechnology.
The patent reviewers specializing in semiconductors who were recruited in March are now engaged in patent reviews for cutting-edge semiconductor technology on the basis of their extensive field experience and expertise.
Among the 30 newly hired patent reviewers, 22 reported that they had received job offers from foreign companies or were considering job changes.
This indicates that recruiting retired semiconductor experts as patent reviewers is effective in preventing an overseas exodus of skilled workers as well as technology leaks.
Kevin Lee (kevinlee@koreabizwire.com)
