Korean Intellectual Property Office Holds Bilateral Meetings with US Japan European Patent Office and WIPO

On June 17 during the IP5 Heads of Office Week at the Four Seasons Hotel Seoul (Jongno-gu Seoul) the Korean Intellectual Property Office (KIPO) held bilateral meetings with the European Patent Office (EPO) the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) the Japan Patent Office (JPO) and the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO).

The IP5 Offices: European Patent Office (EPO) Japan Patent Office (JPO) Korean Intellectual Property Office (KIPO) China National Intellectual Property Administration (CNIPA) and United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO).
During these bilateral meetings KIPO reviewed current issues in the field of intellectual property (IP) and discussed specific cooperation plans for the successful hosting of the IP5 Industry Consultation Group Meeting and the IP5 Heads of Office Meeting on June 19 and 20 respectively.

Key discussion points included:

1. Korea-Europe High-Level Meeting: Discussing User-Friendly Systems

Acting Commissioner of KIPO Kim Si-hyung held a high-level meeting with Nellie Simon Vice President of the EPO on June 17 at 9:30 AM. The EPO is a significant IP institution for Korean companies with South Korea ranking fifth in the number of patent applications filed with the EPO in 2023.

The two offices discussed building user-friendly systems including:

Cooperation plans to promote the use of the Unified Patent Court system and the European Unitary Patent introduced in June 2023.
Effective implementation of the Global Assignment project one of the IP5 cooperation projects where a patent transfer application submitted to one of the IP5 offices is recognized by all IP5 offices.
Top filing countries with EPO (2023): 1. USA 2. Germany 3. Japan 4. China 5. Korea
2. Korea-US Patent Office Meeting: Discussing AI Inventorship and User-Friendly Systems

At 1:00 PM on June 17 Acting Commissioner Kim Si-hyung held a bilateral meeting with Kathi Vidal Director of the USPTO. They shared the current status of AI inventorship. The offices discussed examination trends related to AI including the recent AI Inventorship Guidance issued by the USPTO following the White House executive order (October 2023). They agreed to closely cooperate in emerging technologies such as AI.

They also reached a general agreement on:

Implementing mutual educational programs for companies in each other’s countries.
Improving the Collaborative Search Program (CSP) which allows examiners to share prior art literature and utilize it in their examinations for applications filed in both countries.
3. Korea-Japan Patent Office Meeting and 4. Korea-WIPO Meeting: Discussing AI and IP Information

At 4:30 PM on June 17 Acting Commissioner Kim Si-hyung met with Hamano Koichi Commissioner of the JPO. They discussed the need for comparative research on AI-related invention examination systems and agreed to strengthen cooperation in this area.

Earlier at 2:30 PM Acting Commissioner Kim Si-hyung held a high-level meeting with Lisa Jorgenson Deputy Director General of WIPO to discuss cooperation in supporting developing countries and IP informatization.

Acting Commissioner Kim Si-hyung stated The United States Japan and Europe with whom we held bilateral meetings during the IP5 Heads of Office Week are significant regions where Korean companies file numerous patents. He emphasized We will actively support Korean companies in conducting their business activities in a more favorable environment through close cooperation with these regions.

Ranking of overseas patent applications by Korean companies (2022): USA (41485) China (18262) Europe (10389) Japan (7149) (Source: WIPO IP Statistics Center EPO Statistics)