S. Korea Beefs Up its Intellectual Property Support

Lee said, “South Korea is second in the world behind Israel in terms of R&D spending in relation to GDP. This year’s R&D budget is the largest it’s ever been, and for the first time in history has surpassed the budget of social overhead capital in value.” (Image: Yonhap)

SEOUL, March 9 (Korea Bizwire) — The government has decided to create a Chief Patent Officer position at a newly formed public R&D agency with a budget in excess of 5 billion won a year.

In addition, the government will bolster numbers in the intellectual property sector by putting 400,000 individuals through relevant education and training programs.

Such initiatives were decided upon during a Presidential Council on Intellectual Property meeting led by Prime Minister Lee Nak-yeon on Friday.

Lee said, “South Korea is second in the world behind Israel in terms of R&D spending in relation to GDP. This year’s R&D budget is the largest it’s ever been, and for the first time in history has surpassed the budget of social overhead capital in value.”

The government has decided to create a Chief Patent Officer position at a newly formed public R&D agency with a budget in excess of 5 billion won a year. (Image: Korea Bizwire)

The Chief Patent Officer role will first be trialed this year before operations are pursued in earnest next year. The newly created supervisory position will possess final authority over intellectual property matters.

As the development of original technology is often tied to government R&D, it is believed the government has created the new position to pay closer attention to patent acquisition and avoiding infringement.

The government will look to provide support to the research sector by ramping up strategic consulting services intended to bring the R&D and intellectual property arenas closer together. 

The government also intends to foster greater exchange between the intellectual property sector with startups and jobseekers. As part of this goal, 53,000 of the 400,000 that are to receive intellectual property education and training will receive training that includes know-how relevant to assisting startups and jobseekers.

The government will also take steps to engender a greater understanding and respect for intellectual property rights among the general public by carrying out various public outreach initiatives. 

Thanks to South Korea’s increased R&D budget and spending, the Prime Minister said South Korea has risen to fourth in the world in terms of patent applications, and as a result the nation’s intellectual property trade deficit was lessening.

S.B.W. (sbw266@koreabizwire.com)