The Korean Intellectual Property Office said it signed a memorandum of understanding with the Defense Acquisition Program Administration on the 27th at the Korea Intellectual Property Center in Seoul to build an intellectual property dispute response system for defense companies and to promote the use of defense research and development results.
As South Korea's defense exports continue to grow, so do the risks of core defense technology leaks, patent and trade secret infringement, and related disputes arising from exports, technology transfers and overseas local partnerships. That has increased the need to secure and protect defense science and technology as intellectual property and to help defense companies respond effectively to disputes they may face in overseas markets.
Under the agreement, the two agencies will link their policies and support programs to protect defense technology as intellectual property across the full cycle from defense R&D to commercial use and overseas expansion. Specifically, they will cooperate on preventing and responding to intellectual property disputes and technology leaks in the defense and defense industry sectors, linking support programs, providing intellectual property training and consulting for defense companies, sharing overseas intellectual property information, strengthening the creation, management and use of intellectual property from defense R&D, and supporting specialists and patent analysis in defense technology protection and management.
"Because the competitiveness of advanced defense technology translates directly into the competitiveness of the defense industry, it is important not only to develop superior technology but also to secure it as intellectual property and protect and use it systematically," Defense Acquisition Program Administration Commissioner Lee Yong-chul said. "Taking this agreement as a starting point, we will closely link the Korean Intellectual Property Office's expertise with our defense R&D and defense company support systems to strengthen the foundation for our companies to compete stably in domestic and overseas markets."
"Technology leaks and patent disputes, once they occur, affect export contracts and overall schedules and can determine a company's survival, so preparing in advance is more important than anything," Commissioner Kim Yong-sun of the Korean Intellectual Property Office said. "We will connect the IP expertise the ministry has built up with the defense sector so that our defense companies can compete from R&D through to exports without having to worry about intellectual property."