March 12, 2025
Korea-EU IP Cooperation Expands Beyond Trademark and Design Examination to Policy
Intellectual property (IP) cooperation between Korea and the European Union (EU) is expanding beyond trademark and design examination and trials to include policy. Korean Intellectual Property Office (KIPO) and the European Union Intellectual Property Office (EUIPO) have announced that they will actively pursue comprehensive cooperation through the Korea-EU IP cooperation project, 'IP Action,' encompassing IP laws and systems, SME support policies, IP finance, and counterfeit prevention.
On March 3rd, KIPO Commissioner KIM Wan Ki held a meeting with EUIPO Executive Director Joao Negrao at the EUIPO headquarters in Alicante, Spain.
Both offices acknowledged the effectiveness of the 'IP Action' project, launched in July last year, in promoting innovation and harmonizing IP systems in both regions. They discussed implementation plans of the project and agreed to expand the scope of future cooperation. In particular, the offices agreed to enhance mutual engagement between them in sharing policy expertise and know-hows on preventing and blocking counterfeit goods on online platforms, which is one of the key tasks under the IP Action initiative.
Noting that the Memorandum of Understanding on comprehensive cooperation signed between the two offices is set to expire in October this year, the heads agreed to have it renewed within the second half of the year to include the details for the IP Action implementation.
Commissioner Kim stated, "The importance and role of intellectual property are expected to grow even further in the new global trade environment." He added, "By strengthening Korea-EU IP cooperation, we will actively work to fuel innovation and ensure strong protection of the IP rights in both regions."