No.323:
March 16, 2023
KIPO Comissioner Holds Bilateral Meeting with WIPO Director General in Seoul
February 08, 2023
Bilateral Meeting Between the Heads of the Korean Intellectual Property Office and the World Intellectual Property Organization
□ The Korean Intellectual Property Office (KIPO) hosted bilateral talks with Director General Daren Tang of the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) on Wednesday, February 8, 2023 in Seoul during his official visit to the Republic of Korea (ROK).
ㅇ WIPO is a specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) that oversees international treaties related to intellectual property (IP) and forms new international standards with 193 member states. In addition, it provides various global services such as the Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT) and the Madrid International Trademark System for the international protection of IP.
ㅇ As the Head of WIPO, Director General Tang chose the ROK as the first country of his 2023 mission from February 7 to 11 to experience the innovative ecosystem of Korea. Every year, WIPO assesses the innovative capabilities of 132 countries around the world and identified the ROK as No.1 in Asia and No.6 in the world for 2022.
□ During the bilateral meeting, the KIPO Commissioner Lee and Director General Tang discussed and shared their thoughts on putting more emphasis on the role of IP as the outcome of creativity and innovation to overcome the current economic crisis.
ㅇ First, they focused on the role of big data in fostering innovation in government and private-led R&D activities and agreed on enhancing cooperation to facilitate opportunities for financing using IP for SMEs.
ㅇ Also, Director General Tang thanked KIPO for its active role in narrowing the IP gap between developed and developing countries.
- Both institutions discussed ways to enhance the IP competency of developing countries with the WIPO-Korea Funds in Trust. It was agreed to launch a trial project on sharing Korea's 30-year experience in invention education.
ㅇ In particular, Commissioner Lee and Director General Tang discussed ways to improve WIPO's PCT and Madrid System to be more user-friendly which is being actively used by Korean enterprises.
- Commissioner Lee emphasized that Korean corporations such as Samsung Electronics and LG Electronics are the fourth largest users of the PCT service in the world and said that an External Office of WIPO established in Korea could greatly enhance convenience for Korean users.