March 14, 2008

1. March 14, 2008 Jong-Hyub CHOI Director General & CIO Information Policy Bureau

2. Contents The Importance of an IP system KIPO’s experience: KIPOnet Benefits of KIPOnet Global KIPO

3. The Importance of an IP System

4. The Importance of an IP system • Intellectual Property (IP) as the key to economic development in the 21st century’s information era. Intangible IP assets are supplanting physical resources as the engine of wealth creation and economic progress. Intangible properties Tangible properties Knowledge-based industries drive new markets and adds value. - Computer, Aerospace, Pharmaceutical Industry, Finance and Insurance, etc.

5. The Importance of an IP system • IP automation infrastructures facilitating the creation, promotion and utilization of intellectual property. Competitive IP is the key to economic growth and development in a knowledge-based society. The promotion of intellectual property has become a major task for developed countries. Efforts in most developed countries are directed towards building effective IP automation systems.

6. KIPO’s experience: KIPOnet • Introduction of KIPOnet • Services for internal customers • Services for external customers • Services for R&D institutions

7. KIPO’s experience: KIPOnet 1. Introduction of KIPOnet • A fully integrated IP automation system Electronic handling of all kinds of IPR applications Full automation of internal administration Work-at-home system • A unified portal for public service Customer-services available 24/7 Push mail and Short Message Service (SMS) notifications

8. KIPO’s experience: KIPOnet 1. Introduction of KIPOnet 1995: Established IP Automation plan - Three-years of development 1999: KIPOnet launched World’s first Internet-based e-filing system for patent application 2001: Internet Gazette publishing began 2003 ~ 2004: KIPOnet upgraded to provide faster, more reliable and more convenient service 2005: PCT e-filing service launched 2006: 24/7 non-stop public service began Examiners work-at-home service also began

9. KIPO’s experience: KIPOnet • Introduction of KIPOnet • Services for internal customers • Services for external customers • Services for R&D institutes

10. KIPO’s experience: KIPOnet Services for internal customers • Establishment of a paperless IPR administration environment In 2007, applications’ e-filing rate reached 93%. Existing paper-based documents and applications (only 7% of total applications) are digitalized at KIPO’s Digitalization Center.

11. KIPO’s experience: KIPOnet Services for internal customers • A complete electronic management of internal IP affairs Examiners can carry out all their major tasks, such as application retrieval, prior art searches, and notice preparation through a single window. All reports are electronically approved. Daily online publication of gazettes on patent applications and grants in PDF format. IP rights change-of-ownerships available online and up-to-date.

12. KIPO’s experience: KIPOnet Services for internal customers • Work-at-home service Examiners are enabled to securely connect to the KIPOnet system from their homes and remotely perform all their duties. An innovative work system that facilitates the hiring of qualified examiners from distant locations and saves office space. For secure access to KIPOnet, Government Virtual Private Network (GVPN) and fingerprint identification system were introduced.

13. KIPO’s experience: KIPOnet Services for internal customers • Knowledge-based Management KIPO’s Knowledge Management System (KMS) - It facilitates the creation, updating, sharing, utilization and evaluation of both internally and externally generated knowledge sets. KIPO messenger - It enables KIPO’s staff engage in real time file exchanges, communication in form of online chats, and also provides a mechanism for sending real-time notices to applicants.

14. KIPO’s experience: KIPOnet • Introduction of KIPOnet • Services for internal customers • Services for external customers • Services for R&D institutes

15. KIPO’s experience: KIPOnet Services for external customers • 24 * 7 public service Online filing of all kinds of IP applications. Online viewing and retrieval of notifications by customers. Notification by push mail or SMS services of the legal status of applications. Online requests and issuance of various certificates.

16. KIPO’s experience: KIPOnet Services for external customers • IP information archive portal Domestic and foreign IP information is made freely available online for the public by KIPRIS. • It contains the Korean IP information from KIPO and IP information provided by major patent offices such as EPO, JPO, USPTO etc. * KIPRIS : Korea Industrial Property Rights Information Service Customized IP information are delivered daily by push mail to subscribers. • Push mail service can be sorted by classification system (IPC code, design classification, trademark classification) or external customers (applicant, patent attorney), etc.

17. KIPO’s experience: KIPOnet Services for external customers • Transparent online disclosure of the procedures and results of civil petitions Applicants are informed of the progress of applications through the “My KIPOnet” service The “My KIPOnet” service also provides legal status information to law firms, enterprises and individuals who access the web. It also supports the viewing and downloading of applications and examination information grouped by applicant, case, etc

18. KIPO’s experience : KIPOnet Services for external customers • High-quality services to other arms of Government A variety of IP administrative and legal information is made available to governmental organizations such as the Ministry of Public Administration and Security (MOPAS), the Ministry of Strategy and Finance (MOSF), and the Courts. • KIPOnet allows the general public to view the register of granted patents by connecting them to the administrative information sharing system of the MOPAS. • It also enables applicants to pay their fees online, to an MOSF account. • It also offers information on examinations and trials to Patent Courts

19. KIPO’s experience: KIPOnet • Introduction of KIPOnet • Services for internal customers • Services for external customers • Services for R&D institutes

20. KIPO’s experience: KIPOnet Services for R&D institutes • Infrastructures for the use of patent information KIPRIS • It provides free patent information search services. Patent maps • The results of categorizing or analyzing patent information in certain technical areas • Provides visual representations of technology trends and patent applications. Patent dispute map • Provides the results of the analyses of patent lawsuits from major countries • Patent dispute maps of the US, Japan, and Europe are provided Statistical analysis of patent information • Encouragement of mutual usage of patent & industry statistics

21. KIPO’s experience: KIPOnet Services for R&D institutes • Promotion of the use of patent information for national R&D activities Investigation of patent trends for government-funded R&D projects • Patent trend Analysis in planning R&D projects • Prior art searches in selecting R&D projects • Systematic management and evaluation of R&D projects R&D IPR consulting center • Consulting services for national R&D projects- www.iprguide.org • Visits each lab to consult on IPR

22. Benefits of KIPOnet • Benefits from internal services • Benefits from external services • Benefits from R&D activities

23. Benefits of KIPOnet Benefits from internal services • Internal business cost savings due to KIPOnet KIPOnet brought about cost savings of over 290 million US dollars between1999 and 2005, by reducing gazette publication costs, saving space for preserving paper documents, and reducing examination pending period. <Internal Business Cost Savings due to the enhancement of KIPO’s Productivity by KIPOnet> (Unit : US$ million) <Source: Korea Information Society Agency, 2006>

24. Benefits of KIPOnet Benefits from internal services • Contribution to the reduction of examination pending period The average examination pending period in 1999 was 23.6 months. By 2005 it had reduced to 17.6 months and in 2007 it further reduced to 9.8 months. • The reduction of examination pending period was due to the automation by KIPOnet of the entire examination procedures and to the increase in the number of examiners.

25. Benefits of KIPOnet Benefits from internal services • Improvements in the quality of examinations The examination error rate for patent applications dropped from 6% in 2001 to 1.5% in 2006. <Examination Error Rate>

26. Benefits of KIPOnet • Benefits from internal services • Benefits from external services • Benefits from R&D activities

27. Benefits of KIPOnet Benefits from external services • Opportunity cost savings to external customers On the customer’s side, opportunity cost savings thanks to e-filing and computerized IP search amounted to more than 2.6 billion dollars between1999 and 2005. <Customers Opportunity Cost Savings due to Improvement of Public Services> (Unit : US$ million) Area of Assessment E-filing Customer Opportunity Cost Savings Computerized Search Total <Source: Korea Information Society Agency, 2006>

28. Benefits of KIPOnet Benefits from external services • Enhanced transparency of IP administration in KIPO Quick and accurate examination services are provided through the full automation of IPR administration. With all IPR examination procedures available online, the public has better access to administrative information.

29. Benefits of KIPOnet • Benefits from internal services • Benefits from external services • Benefits from R&D activities

30. Benefits of KIPOnet Rising the Efficiency of National R&D Activities • Prevention of duplicated R&D investment Utilization of patent information in R&D is preventing redundant or duplicated investments This has not only reduced R&D expenses, but also shortened R&D period. • R&D institutions could reduce their R&D time by 26%and their R&D cost by about 28% with the use of customized patent services offered by KIPOnet. <Source: Korea Information Society Agency, 2006>

31. Global KIPO

32. Global KIPO Best practice recognized worldwide • Since the launch of the KIPOnet in 1999, approximately 30 Intellectual Property Offices (IPOs) have benchmarked KIPOnet to modernize their own IP examination and administration system. • KIPO is providing technical consultation to several developing countries on office automation and is enhancing cooperation in IT with other IPOs and international organizations such as the WIPO and APEC.

33. Global KIPO PCT-ROAD • In collaboration with WIPO, KIPO developed the PCT-Receiving Office Administration system, called PCT-ROAD in 2005. As of 2007, this system has been deployed in 18 countries around the world, including Israel, Egypt, Indonesia, the Philippines and Malaysia. PCT-ROAD has contributed to increasing the e-filing rate of international patent applications and decreasing the digital divide between developed and developing PCT member states.

34. Global KIPO PCT-ROAD

35. Global KIPO K-PION Service • Due to the increasing importance of Korean patent information, the Korean Patent Information Online Network - K-PION was launched in 2005. It provides examiners in other countries with a means of searching English translations of Korean patent documents including file wrapper information. Examiners of 35 foreign IPOs can view and retrieve Korean-English translations of Korean IP information and examination history.

36. Thank You Jong-Hyub Choi: jonghyub@kipo.go.kr