KIPO, WIPO, 16 IP Agency Chiefs Hold Teleconference

Commissioner Park Won-joo of Korean Intellectual Property Office (KIPO). (Photos: KIPO)

Heads of intellectual property agencies of 16 countries, including Korean Intellectual Property Office (KIPO), and Director General Francis Gurry of the World Intellectual Property Office (WIPO), participated in a teleconference on April 4.

During the teleconference, KIPO Commissioner Park Won-joo delivered his keynote speech about Korea’s aggressive responses to cope with the spread of COVID-19.

Even though Korea was one of countries with many COVID-19 patients, Commissioner Park said the Korean situation was getting stable by coming up with aggressive countermeasures against the pandemic.

He introduced drive-through clinics and other timely development, the production and supply of diagnostic agents, testing and quarantining COVID-19 cases.

KIPO Commissioner Park Won-joo holds a teleconference with heads of intellectual property agencies of 16 countries, including Director General Francis Gurry of the World Intellectual Property Office (WIPO) on Korea’s aggressive responses to cope with the spread of COVID-19 on April 4.

Commissioner Park said walk-through diagnostic methods designed to protect medical personnel combating the spread of COVID-19, other diverse effective methods and technologies whose patents had been submitted have been made available on the scene.

He said it is significant for each country to share their experiences and expertise and closely cooperate to effectively cope with COVID-19.

Commissioner Park proposed ways of making research institutions and companies around the world utilize each country’s patented analysis outcomes related to COVID-19, like KIPO’s “COVID-19 Patients Information Navigation” by providing them to WIPO.

COVID-19 Patients Information Navigation is a website, run by KIPO, which offers about 3,500 kinds of patented information related to COVID-19, designed to support researchers and experts’ R&D activities, which are classified in five larger categories such as prevention/protection, treatment/vaccine, testing/diagnosis, waste and etc. and 18 narrower categories.

WIPO Dir.-Gen. Curry shared the meaning and significance of KIPO’s proposal and decided to continue to discuss detailed ways down the road.

During the teleconference, the participants had vivid discussions of topics such confusion over patent applicants occurring each country’s differently prolonging of patent application periods and matters related to the designation of a reprieve of patent fees designed to support SMEs grappling with liquidity crisis caused by the pandemic.

Commissioner Park said, “Korea had many COVID-19 cases at an early stage of the spread of the pandemic, but the country has become a globally recognized example of building and operating the Korean-style disinfection model and effectively coping with COVID-19.”

KIPO will make efforts to share with the international community Korea’s experiences and successful response model by proactively participating in global efforts to take countermeasures against COVID-19, he added.

The participants on hand at the teleconference were KIPO Commissioner Park, Michael Schwager of Australia, Claudio Vilar Furtado of Brazil,; Johanne Belisle of Canada, Shen Changyu of China, Pascal Faure of France, Christian Wichard of Germany, Om Prakash Gupta of India, Akira Matsunaga of Japan, Grigory Ivlieve of Russia, Daren Tang of Singapore, Catherine Chammatin of Switzerland, Tim Moss of the UK, Andrei Lancu of the United States, Christian Archambeau of EUIPO, Antonio Campinos of EPO, and Dir.-Gen. Curry of WIPO.