1. The Korean Intellectual Property Office will improve the patent examination system for the protection of innovative technologies in the field of bio -health

In the era of the 4th Industrial Revolution, the Korean Intellectual Property Office (KIPO) revises the patent and utility model examination standards, which are designed to make patents for patient-customized therapeutic and digital diagnosis technologies patentable and to clarify patent application standards for technologies related to intelligent new drug development.

According to the amendment, a patent is recognized as an invention for finding a patient group that is sensitive to a specific drug by utilizing bio-big data such as genome information. In addition, even if a therapeutic agent for the same disease having the same component can be confirmed to have a remarkable effect only for a specific patient group, a patent can be obtained.

It is a principle that the method of diagnosis of the body can not be patented for medical treatment. However, it has become clear that the diagnostic technology corresponding to the information processing method of computer such as bio-data processing method is not covered by the medical act unless it is by the medical person, so it can be protected by the patent.

2. Last year's PCT patent application No. 1 Huawei ... Samsung Electronics 6th place

China Telecom Huawei ranked first with 5,405 cases in the number of international patent applications according to the Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT) last year, the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) said on the 19th.

Followed by Mitsubishi Electronics (2,812), Intel (2,449), Qualcomm (2,440) and ZTE (2,080). Samsung Electronics ranked 6th with 1,997. LG Electronics ranked 8th with 1,697.

The total number of PCT patent applications last year was 253,000, up 3.9% from the previous year.

By country, the US dropped to 56,142 cases, down 0.9% from the previous year, but still remained in first place, and China was the second with 53,345 cases (9.1% increase).

South Korea, with 17,014 cases, grew 8% from the previous year, ranking fifth after Japan (49,070 cases) and Germany (9,983 cases).

The number of PCT international patent applications in Asian countries accounted for 50.5% of the total number of applications, making it the most active patent application area.

3. Announcement of 2018 patent application annual report of European Patent Office

In 2018, the EPO announced a total of 174,300 patent applications, an increase of 4.6% over the previous year. 127,600 patents were registered, with 106,000 patents granted in 2017, up 17% from the prior year. In addition, 47% of registered patents were filed in Germany, France, Switzerland, the Netherlands, and the UK, in 38 member states of the EPO. Outside the EPO, the US accounted for 25%, followed by Japan, China and South Korea. In Southeast Asia, Korea has increased its European patent applications by 13%, and Chinese patent applications were 8.8%. Siemens, Huawei, Samsung Electronics, LG and United Technilogies have increased EPO patent applications.

4. China is expected to pass legislation prohibiting the transfer of technology

China's National People's Congress (NPC) is expected to pass a bill banning technology transfer to foreign-invested companies, the South China Morning Post reported. NPC is expected to pass the Foreign Investment Law next week, which includes the protection of intellectual property rights of foreign-invested companies, prohibition of forced transfer of technology, national treatment of foreign companies, and expansion of foreign-invested companies. The issue of pushing technology transfer to foreign-invested enterprises is one of the key issues in the US-China trade war. While the US claims that foreign companies investing in China are required to transfer mandatory technology transfer to Chinese partners participating in the joint venture in return for entering the Chinese market, China has denied it.