The global IP e-learning program is geared towards developing English training materials and administering educational courses based on such materials to domestic and foreign IP professionals, university students, and all other interested persons. Further, it will facilitate the online acquisition of IP knowledge and provide a proper avenue for sharing up-to-date IP trends and information.

Until recently, IP educational courses in Korea have been offered in Korean and based on domestic laws and systems. However, Intellectual Property Rights (IPRs) such as patents, trademarks, and copyrights constitute one of the most globalized spheres. As a result, Korean enterprises, universities, and R&D centers have now found themselves in the difficult position of being compelled to cooperate and/or compete globally with foreign enterprises and governments in the creation, utilization and protection of IPRs in order to remain competitive. Consequently, the demand for global IP education is greater now than at any other time in the past.

In order to effectively address domestic demand and contribute to the advancement of global IP education, KIPO has developed English IP e-learning contents and administered relevant educational courses that trainees can easily access and utilize through the Internet. KIPO has mostly done this in cooperation with international organizations such as WIPO and APEC.

Since 2005, KIPO has been administering various courses in Korean universities and graduate schools using multimedia e-learning contents. In 2009, a total of 42 educational courses were offered and 2,550 students completed them.

Apart from such domestic courses, KIPO (in cooperation with international organizations) has also managed global IP e-learning courses in which foreign trainees participated. For instance, in 2009, in cooperation with APEC and KIPA, KIPO administered the "Project for Training Intellectual Property Right Information Facilitators Using e-Learning Contents, IP Xpedite." And in 2010, in cooperation with WIPO, KAIST and KIPA, KIPO introduced a Joint Certificate Course based on IP Panorama. At the end of this Joint Certificate Course, trainees who achieve the required minimum performance will be issued certificates in the name of WIPO, KIPO, KAIST and KIPA.

The two courses mentioned above are characteristically geared to maximize impact on trainees. They combine an online multimedia-based course with an offline seminar-style course. On the one hand, they transmit specialized knowledge, online to participants wherever they may be and on the other hand, they offer participants from different countries the opportunity to share and exchange information on IP policies and practices. In confirmation of the effectiveness of the courses, a survey conducted on trainees who completed the APEC Joint Certificate Course in 2009 showed that 85.11% were highly satisfied with the online course while 89.24% were very satisfied with the offline course.

KIPO has been developing the IP Panorama in cooperation with WIPO SMEs division and KIPA since 2005. IP Panorama covers 12 main areas including patent information, technology transactions, M&A, E-commerce, and patent disputes.

IP Panorama is utilized by university students, SMEs and IP experts in Korea. In addition, it is offered to foreign governments and institutions that require it.

KIPO entered into agreements for the development of IP Panorama in local languages; with Thailand in September 2007, Mongolia in March 2008, Portugal in May 2008, Estonia in November 2008, Hungary in February 2010, Kenya in July 2010, Bangladesh in August 2010 and Vietnam in September 2010.

Following the success of the English version of IP Panorama, KIPO, WIPO and KIPA began in 2009 to develop other versions of IP Panorama in official UN languages, specifically, Arabic, French, and Spanish.

In March 2010, an international symposium was held at the headquarters of the League of Arab States [LAS] in Cairo, to celebrate the official release of the Arabic version of IP Panorama. The Spanish and French versions are currently under development.

< IP Panorama Development Stages >

IP Panorama describes the strategic use of IP in management and practical business affairs. As shown below, it currently consists of a total of 13 modules.

< IP Panorama Contents>

With funding from APEC and in cooperation with KIPA, during 2006 - 2007, KIPO developed an IP e-learning content, so-called IP Xpedite, which deals with the utilization of IPR information.

Since 2008, IP Xpedite has been disseminated to APEC member economies and it is available at the websites of APEC and KIPO. In 2009, KIPO ran an APEC IPi Facilitator Training Course, which was a combination of online and offline educational programs based on IP Xpedite. The course led to the development of a new e-learning program called IP Xpedite Practical derived from lectures given by IP experts from WIPO, Korea, the US, Japan, and Australia.

< IP Xpedite and IP Xpedite Practical Development Status >

IP Xpedite features contents based on practical issues and cases regarding patent information. It consists of 14 modules as listed below. In the case of IP Xpedite Practical, a total of 7 modules have been developed focusing on search practices using patent databases acquired from key countries such as Korea, the U.S., Japan, Europe, and so on. And IP Xpedite Practical ll which consists of 5 modules as listed below.

< IP-Xpedite Contents >

< IP Xpedite Practical Contents >

< IP Xpedite Practical ll Contents >

KIPO has remodeled the DL-101 course offered by WIPO Academy on international law into multimedia contents in cooperation with WIPO and KIPA. The new course will be offered to universities, graduate schools and enterprises all over the world.

The WIPO DL-101 course addresses IPRs from the perspective of international law. In response to requests from domestic university students, it has recently been revised into a multimedia-based course and is now known as IP IGNITE.

< IP IGNITE Contents >