Commissioner Kim stresses need to resolve intellectual property chasm  between rich and poor countries


“Patent war” and “intellectual property chasm” are the biggest crises the international intellectual property system is facing and a joint effort is needed to resolve it, a top Korean official said.

Korean Intellectual Property Office Commissioner Kim Ho-won made the remarks at the 50th Series of Meetings of the Assemblies of the Member States of the World Intellectual Property Organization, or WIPO, which is currently under way in Geneva, Switzerland.

The meeting kicked off its nine-day run on Oct. 1 at the International Conference Center Geneva. WIPO Director General Francis Gurry and many heads of IP Offices throughout the world including the U.S., Japan, China and European countries are attending the event. 

Commissioner Kim asserted, in his general statement on the first day of the meeting, the need for member countries to jointly cope with increasing international patent disputes and that WIPO should play the central role through its Arbitration and Mediation Center.

“International cooperation should be the new task in the international intellectual property field in order to cut the cost for patent disputes and eventually lessen the breakouts of such disputes,” said Kim, pointing out that such patent cases can burden companies such as in the recent Samsung-Apple and Kolon cases.

Kim also urged the need to narrow the gap of intellectual property between developed countries and underdeveloped countries so that the world intellectual property system can be sustained and further developed. It is important to inform underdeveloped countries that they will also benefit from intellectual properties, he said.

According to a press release by KIPO, underdeveloped countries recognize the importance of intellectual properties but are rather skeptical about expanding the system in belief that it will only benefit developed countries. The recent hope to advance Design Law Treaty at WIPO was one example that faced reluctance from developing countries for such reasons.

WIPO member countries and Director General Francis Gurry agreed with Commissioner Kim, and decided to further discuss the issues of patent dispute and narrowing the gap of intellectual property between countries.

Meanwhile, South Korea’s educative animation “Getting Creative with Pororo,” which was showcased to WIPO member countries during the meeting, drew much attention.

KIPO also inked the Patent Prosecution Highway Agreement with Hungary and Singapore during the meeting and secured a way for Korean patent applicants to quickly receive patents in the countries.

By Park Min-young and Lee Kwon-hyung
(claire@heraldcorp.com) (kwonh@heraldcorp.com">claire@heraldcorp.com) (kwonh@heraldcorp.com)