1. Trademark Special Juridical Police and Citizen Consciousness

 

According to the national competitiveness report of the Swiss International Institute for Management Development (IMD) that was announced this year, the intellectual property protection level of Korea ranks no more than 32nd in 58 countries. One of the reasons that the protection level of intellectual property such as patent and trademark is assessed so low is because there is still a widespread circulation of fake products or pirate illegal reproductions in on- and off-line markets.

 

The trademark special juridical policing right introduced in August 8 will make it possible to build a system for properly protecting the created intellectual property so as to concentrate on criminal action such as seizure, search and arrest of persons who manufacture, circulate and sell fake products on a large scale. Furthermore, online shopping malls will be clamped down on by shutting down online fake product sites and rounding up sellers through IP track down.

 

2. Daewoo Elec. Wins in Drum Washer Suit in the Court of Appeals

 

Seoul High Court Civil Section 4 announced on 29th that it ruled against the plaintiff LG Electronics who had won at the first trial in the suit for damages against Daewoo Elec. contending that it made drum washers by infringing LG Electronics' patent technology.

 

Previously in last April the Supreme Court had ruled in a separately proceeded suit that "LG Electronics' patent relating to the directly connected drum washer is practically ineffective." So it is interpreted that the lower court cited it to rule in favor of Daewoo Elec.

 

LG Electronics developed technologies relating to the structure of the drive motor and the washing tank connecting part of the directly connected drum washer in 1999 and had them registered for patents. Later when Daewoo Elec. turned out a directly connected drum washer, LG Electronics filed related lawsuits starting with an application for an injunction banning patent infringement in 2006.

 

3. Most of government-supported patents are dormant

 

According to the data that the Ministry of Education, Science and Technology submitted to Ju Gwang-deok (Grand National Party), member of the National Assembly and the Committee of Education, Science and Technology, it was found that dormant patents of government-supported research institutes are increasing, and most of their patents are not utilized with the average rate of dormancy reaching 74.6%.

 

A dormant patent is a patent which is not utilized industrially by the owner or other people with the right maintained through payment of annual registration fees. Assessment of government-supported research institutes in the field of science and technology is made mostly by making the number of patent applications and registrations as a major performance indicator. The number of patent registrations by government-supported institutes reached 670 in 2009. Contrary to this, the results of commercialization are that only seven institutes recorded a cumulative number of five or more and as many as five institutes have no results at all.

 

4. Court rules that preoccupancy of a recognizable well-known trademark domain such as "K2" is invalid

 

Seoul Central District Court Civil Section 12 (Associate Judge Park Heui-seung) announced that it ruled against the plaintiff in the suit filed by Mr. Park so-and-so against K2 protesting against the decision made by the Internet Address Dispute Arbitration Committee to hand over the domain 'k2.co.kr' to K2, a company specializing in mountain-climbing articles.

 

Mr. Park registered a domain name called 'k2.co.kr' in Korea Internet Security Agency and has been holding it but filed a suit when the Internet Address Dispute Arbitration Committee made a decision in February this year that "it seems that he is using the address for an unlawful purpose considering that he has not using it for two years since he closed it in 2008."

 

5. China to rank first in the world in patent applications

 

Having overtaken Japan in GDP, which symbolizes national competitiveness, and caught up with America also in car sales, it is now aiming at the 'World's Most Powerful' position in technological innovation as well.

 

According to the Financial Times (FT), Thomson Reuter, the world's biggest information provider, said that "With the number of patent application reaching 279,298 last year, China ranked third after Japan with 357,338 patent applications and America with 321,741," and estimated 2011 as the point of time when it will rank first after overtaking Japan and America. The Economist magazine of the U. K. also made a similar prospect on the 4th saying that there is a possibility that the number of patent applications of China will pass that of Japan, the country with the most patents, within this year for the first time in history.

 

6. Copyright protection to extend to 70 years after Korea-EU FTA comes into effect

 

If the Korea-EU FTA that was formally signed on 6th comes into effect after it is ratified by the National Assembly, protection of intellectual property such as record albums and publications will be reinforced further.

 

First, the copyright protection period, that was 50 years after the death of the author, will extend to 70 years. If the copyright protection period is extended, the copyright royalties that must be paid additionally to foreign copyright holders are estimated to be 2.2 billion won yearly on average for 20 years in the future, so the ripple effect on our cultural industry is expected to be large.

 

Protection for 'geographical indication,' which clarifies that the commodity has a specific area, region or country as the place of origin, will be reinforced as well. Items with protected geographical indications are 64 including 'Boseong Green Tea' and 'Sunchang Traditional Gochujang' for Korea and 162 including 'Bordeaux' and ‘Bourgogne' for the EU. These items will be protected from the 'act of hinting the area that is not the true producer as the place of origin,' or the 'act of using geographical indication for a similar commodity.'