On Monday September 2 Commissioner Kim Wan-ki of the Korean Intellectual Property Office (KIPO) attended the 7th Korea-ASEAN IP Chiefs Meeting in Bandar Seri Begawan Brunei. During this event he also held bilateral meetings with four countries: the United States Singapore Brunei and the Philippines.
* ASEAN member countries: Laos Malaysia Vietnam Brunei Singapore Indonesia Cambodia Thailand the Philippines and Myanmar.

Since signing the first Memorandum of Cooperation on intellectual property rights in Brunei in 2018 Korea and ASEAN have been holding annual IP chiefs meetings to foster close cooperation in the field of intellectual property.

At this year’s meeting discussions focused on implementing the Joint Declaration for Cooperation in the Field of Intellectual Property to Achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)* which was adopted under the leadership of KIPO at the 5th Korea-ASEAN IP Chiefs Meeting in 2022. The topics included ▲ cooperation in intellectual property education to enhance capabilities and ▲ collaboration in artificial intelligence (AI).
* SDGs (Sustainable Development Goals): A set of 17 goals and 169 detailed targets adopted by the United Nations General Assembly in 2015 to address challenges in five areas: People Planet Prosperity Peace and Partnership.

 Exporting Korea’s IP Education Services Including LMS and K-Content 

KIPO agreed to share its expertise and know-how on the Learning Management System (LMS*) that ASEAN is working to implement. Since 2002 KIPO has provided an online public education service amassing significant experience and knowledge in this area. This meeting also explored ways for Korean institutions to participate in ASEANs LMS development projects which could potentially lead to the export of Korea’s online intellectual property education services. Furthermore KIPO will provide ASEAN member countries with online content designed to strengthen the capabilities of developing nations.
* LMS (Learning Management System): A comprehensive system for managing all aspects of education including course enrollment attendance and participation.

 Spreading AI-Based IP Administrative Efficiency Solutions to ASEAN 

At the meeting KIPO shared examples of how AI is being used to enhance the efficiency of intellectual property administration in areas such as translation search and classification. KIPO also proposed sharing its experience and expertise through the AI Capacity Building Workshop for Developing Countries* which is already underway in collaboration with the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) for ASEAN member countries. The ASEAN representatives expressed great interest in leveraging AI for intellectual property administration and requested continued support from KIPO to strengthen ASEAN’s capabilities in this area.
* A program that introduces specific methods for utilizing AI in patent and trademark searches (Philippines: scheduled for April 2024 Thailand Indonesia and Vietnam: scheduled for October 2024).

 Bilateral Meetings with Four Countries During the Korea-ASEAN IP Chiefs Meeting 

Commissioner Kim also held bilateral meetings with the IP chiefs of the United States Singapore the Philippines and Brunei. In discussions with the United States the focus was on cooperation in providing high-quality examination services in advanced technology fields such as AI semiconductors secondary batteries and biotechnology. With Singapore and the Philippines the discussions centered on building IP administrative systems that leverage AI. In the meeting with Brunei discussions revolved around the ongoing Consulting Project for Human Resource Development in the Field of Intellectual Property which is currently being supported by KIPO.

Commissioner Kim stated ASEAN is a key partner in promoting Koreas Indo-Pacific strategy being the second-largest trading and investment partner for Korea. This year marks the 35th anniversary of the establishment of formal dialogue relations between Korea and ASEAN and through this IP chiefs meeting we aim to strengthen cooperation in the field of intellectual property and contribute to building an innovation ecosystem for sustainable development.