November 29, 2019
Appropriate technologies (AT) developed using patent information are seeds for growth of less-developed countries !
- KIPO holds 2019 KIPO-WIPO Appropriate Technology Grand Symposium -
The Korean Intellectual Property Office (KIPO; Commissioner Wonjoo Park)
will hold 2019 KIPO-WIPO Appropriate Technology Grand Symposium in
Young Bin Gwan at Shilla Hotel (Jangchung-dong, Jung-gu, Seoul) on the 26th
of this month.
The Symposium, jointly held by the KIPO and the World Intellectual Property
Organization (WIPO) and sponsored by the Korea Invention Promotion
Association (KIPA), celebrates the 10th anniversary of "Global IP Sharing,"
one of KIPO's key Official Development Assistance (ODA) projects. IP experts
both at home and overseas are invited to gather around and share their
successful experiences with the ODA for IP-implemented AT and discuss the
future of AT development.
In the backdrop of efforts of the Korean government to increase ODA, which
have been boosted since 2010 when Korea joined the Development Assistance
Committee (DAC) of OECD, and to faithfully serve its role as a member of
IP5 (a forum of the five largest IP offices in the world), the KIPO has been
utilizing its database of patent information to help develop AT in order to
improve the quality of life for people in less-developed countries.
Since 2010, the KIPO has developed and distributed 22 cases of AT for 13
countries. Last year, for instance, the KIPO provided silk weaving machines
for people in Quang Nam province of Vietnam, a place known for silk as its
specialty products, and also built smart winter greenhouses for people in
Mongolia, where it is difficult to grow fruit and vegetables in winter due to
severe weather conditions.
The KIPO is currently engaged in providing grain grinders for people in
Dominican Republic, and water purification technologies for people in Sri
Lanka who are suffering from polluted drinking water. These efforts are being
hailed by local residents as they directly contribute to improving everyday
lives of people in less-developed countries through relieving poverty and
improving general sanitary conditions.
The Symposium will feature deputy director General Mario Matus of WIPO,
and Professor Gwan-woo Shin of Sogang University (President of Academic
Society for Appropriate Technology) as keynote speakers, and a number of
high-profile IP experts both at home and abroad will also participate as
panels. The symposium will also provide an exhibition of the 10-year spanning
ODA projects and also an exhibition and demonstrations of the machines
recently developed using AT.
Commissioner Wonjoo Park of KIPO said, "I hope this symposium, which
coincides with the periods during which the 2019 ASEAN-ROK
Commemorative Summit and the Heads of IP Offices Meeting are held, will
help us in underscoring and raising awareness of the importance and roles of
IPs in the field of AT and also aid us in designing long-term blueprints for
developing AT."