1. The urgent need for a policy to protect the intellectual property rights of small business owners

According to the Issue & Paper of the Small Business Market Promotion Agency Policy Research Center, from December 2017, when the Korean Intellectual Property Office began implementing the unfair competition investigation system, to June last year, among those who reported unfair competition, 83% were small businesses or SMEs. Among the types of competition, the most reported case as 'imitation of product form' accounted for 39% of the total. Next, 'theft of ideas' accounted for 26% of the total, and 'unfair competition leading to product/sales entity confusion' took up 25%. In particular, there were many disputes between small business owners and SMEs in the case of 'product imitation'. However, in the case of 'theft of ideas', there are many cases where large corporations are reported.

Accordingly, the Policy Research Center said, "In the era of the infinitely developing 4th industrial revolution, as the importance of innovative ideas increases, intellectual property and related rights require more substantial and stronger protection measures." He suggested that it is necessary to strengthen legal protection measures, such as shifting the burden of proof and strengthening dispositions for trade secret infringement. He also advised that it is necessary to establish a cooperative system between relevant agencies in the investigation and crackdown on intellectual property infringement or technology theft.

2. "Increasing patent applications amid COVID-19, led by SMEs"

The Korea Intellectual Property Research Institute analyzed domestic patent application trends and factors of increase and decrease in the number of patent applications on the 1st, and as a result of an average increase of 5.0% in the number of patent applications for 20 years from 1999 to last year, the patent quality also improved significantly. Over the past five years (2016-2020), SME patent applications increased at an average annual rate of 5.9%, far exceeding that of large corporations (0.4%), universities and public research institutes (down 0.2%), and individuals (2.5%). .

Last year, despite the unfavorable market environment due to the spread of COVID-19, patent applications by SMEs surged 13.1% from the previous year. The patent life index of SMEs rose the most (27.3 percentage points increase compared to 1999), recording the second highest figure after universities and research institutes.

Along with the increase in the number of applications filed, representative indicators of patent quality such as patent lifespan and international joint research continued to improve. In the past, the proportion of applications filed by large corporations was very high, but since the mid-2010s, SMEs have overtaken the number of applications filed by large enterprises, and until recently, SMEs have led the increase in patent applications.

3. “mRNA vaccine patent, hindering domestic vaccine production”… CNN interview

Kwon Jun-wook, head of the National Institutes of Health, said that the messenger ribonucleic acid (mRNA)-based COVID-19 vaccine patent is an obstacle to domestic production of the vaccine. Director Kwon said in an interview with CNN on the 6th (local time), "Korea is working hard to produce the vaccine locally so that it can increase the inoculation rate of the Corona 19 vaccine booster shot and reduce the need for importing vaccines." He emphasized that the vaccine patent period should be suspended for a certain period of time so that the world can build immunity and overcome the crisis together in a short period of time so that countries with manufacturing capacity can mass-produce the vaccine. Korea started a gradual recovery of daily life on November 1, but since then, the number of infections and patients has increased by a record. "According to this, Minister of Health Kwon Deok-cheol decided to restrict gatherings on the 3rd and strengthen measures such as mandatory quarantine passes for restaurants and cafes," he added. While raising the vaccination rate, the company closely monitored the rate of critically ill patients and bed occupancy, but it did not avoid the spread of the virus.

4. RCEP will come into effect in January next year… Expectation to strengthen the protection of Hallyu(Korean Wave) in the ASEAN market

According to the Korean Intellectual Property Office, the RCEP goes into effect from the ratifying country if it has been ratified by at least six ASEAN member countries and at least three non-ASEAN member countries. In the case of Korea, the ratification bill passed the plenary session of the National Assembly on the 2nd and is expected to take effect in February next year. A total of 83 intellectual property rights provisions are specifically stipulated in the RCEP. First of all, if a trademark broker wants to preoccupy a Korean company's trademark in the overseas market, the application will be rejected, and even if it is registered, it can be revoked. Relief can be obtained even if an Internet address name identical or similar to a trademark has been preempted by another person. In addition, acts that mislead or confuse people with Korean products by using the name of Korea are prohibited, which is expected to limit the use of the Korean Wave in China and ASEAN regions. The basis for the introduction of a partial design system was also laid, which made it mandatory to disclose the contents to the public after 18 months of filing a patent application, and allowed design rights for parts other than the entire product. In the case of trademarks, it is obligatory to establish an electronic filing system and an application/registration disclosure system and to comply with the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) classification of goods. In addition, the clause requiring efforts to follow the classification of the World Intellectual Property Organization was reflected in patents and designs. Through this, it is expected that the international intellectual property rights system will be applied to ASEAN and other countries, creating a favorable business environment for Korean companies.