Korean Intellectual Property Office

1. Tackling the Backlog March 2010 Korean Intellectual Property Office

2. Content • KIPO’s Experience on Tackling the Backlog • International Cooperation for Work-Sharing

3. Ⅰ. KIPO’s Experience on Tackling the Backlog

4. The results of Survey on EP Strong Demand on Reduction of Examination Period(EP) < 2002> • 26% companies experienced economic damages from long EP • 80% prefer the EP not longer than 14 months • 84% complained about long EP <2004> • 74% prefer the EP less than 14 months • 75% not satisfied due to long EP • In 2004, the level of satisfaction of EP : 42.2 out of 100 < The Level of Customer’s Satisfaction with EP>

5. Recruitment of examiners Improvement of the examination process Expanded outsourcing of prior art searches Improvement of our automated system of IP administration Key Factors on the Reduction of Examination Period • Recruitment of examiners with advanced technical qualifications (Technical experts and PhDs) - Total number of patent examiners : (2002) 453 → (2006) 727 • Outsourcing of prior art searches: 30,926 (2002) → 133,000(2006) • Increased examination efficiency through development of the KIPOnet system • Introduction of Six Sigma • Performance-based management

6. Reduction of Patent Examination Period 25 22.6 21.0 20 22.1 15 17.6 12.2 12.1 10 5 9.8 9.8 0 Month / Year 2008 2009 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007

7. Benefits from Reduction of EP based on a survey (2007.9) Monetary Gains from the Reduction of EP(2006) Benefits of Reduction of Examination Period(EP) • 1) Advantageous to preoccupy in the market • 2) To secure the royalties • 3) To prevent counterfeited goods • 4) To decrease legal disputes • 5) To preclude competitors from imitated goods • 6) To encourage inventors • 22.1 month (2003) 9.8 month (2006) • Approximately $ 1.4 Bil(USD) of production increase effect • Approximately $ 0.57 Bil(USD) of creation of added value

8. The Change of Domestic & International Circumstances Various opinions on EP (2008.6) >> Is the world fastest 9.8 Months enough? - 53.8% said 9.8 is not fast enough >> Need to improve the quality of examination? - 91.4 % said YES! Change in corporate IP strategy - The focus is on strong, high-quality IPRs rather than the quantity of applications Global collaboration of IP offices -Work-sharing: a way of tackling the examination backlog * Work-sharing: PPH, SHARE, TRIWAY, FOCUS, New Route - Examination quality: a prerequisite for work-sharing “One Application, One Search, One Examination” Rapid Increase of PCT International Search Requests

9. Change of Policy : Provide 3- Track & High Quality of Examination Quality of Examination Examination Period • Introduce Customer-tailored 3 track system to satisfy various demands • Expand the opportunities for anybody to apply for accelerated examination • Introduce Customer-deferred examination system for those of who do not want their technology to be known to the public early >>> Maintained 16-Month Examination Period in average • Implemented EXCEL Program to improve the quality of examination

10. EXCEL (EXaminationexCELlence) Plan Measures to optimize the examination infrastructure Measures to enhance the examination quality Measures to maximize efficiency in the examination quality management • an emphasis on a vigorous search ofnonpatent literature • Improving the automatic machine translation system • Implementing an individual self-diagnostic system • Establishing new examination divisions for new technologies • Systemizing standard operating procedures for searches and examinations • Implementing a Responsible Management System, where directors take full responsibility for the quality of the examination

11. Customer-tailored Patent Examination System • Three-track Examination System - Customers can choose an accelerated track, a regular track or a customer-deferred track. Accelerated Examination AE Customer-tailored patent examination system Regular Examination RE Customer-deferred Examination CE • Accelerated Examination: Within 3 months from the date of the request for examination • Customer-deferred Examination: Within 3 months from the date specified by the customer

12. Ⅱ. International Cooperation for Work-Sharing

13. “Sharing Examination Know-how & Examination Criteria” IP 5 Global Work-sharing & Cooperation Background • Increase of Efficiency and Quality of Patent Examination • Needs of International Consistency of Examination Result IP5 Cooperation Framework • Discussion on Work-sharing and Harmonization of Patent System among EPO, IPO, KIPO, SIPO, USPTO • 10 Foundation Project • IP5 Examination Workshop

14. Recent Status • Statistics Patent Prosecution Highway (PPH) Russia UK Denmark Mar. 2009 Nov. 2009 Oct. 2009 Apr. 2007 Jan. 2008 Established Under consideration USA Japan Oct. 2009 Jan. 2010 Australia Canada Finland Germany 12

15. What is SHARE? Benefits KIPO – USPTO SHARE Pilot SHARE (Strategic Handling of Application fro Rapid Examination) • Cooperative search & examination system between KIPO & USPTO • Increase examination effectiveness & Reduce redundant work • Decrease overall pendency • Improve quality • Initiated September 1, 2009(400 cases) • Selected in narrow technology(Battery, fuel cells etc) • Manual prioritization and notification of work product availability to the offices

16. Thank you ! Shin, JinGyun Chief Administrative Patent Judge Korean Intellectual Property Office jin64@kipo.go.kr