Annual Technical Report 2002 on Industrial Design Information Activities submitted by Republic of Korea (SCIT/ATR/ID/2002/KR)
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The expression "industrial designs" covers industrial designs and models. Offices which issue design patents should report their design patent information activities in this series of Annual Technical Reports.
I. Evolution of registration activities
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In 2002, the number of industrial design applications climbed to 37,587 from 36,867 in 2001, an increase of 2 percent. The number of applications by foreign applicants climbed to 2,188 from 1,793 in 2001, an increase of 22 percent. The number of registered trademarks climbed to 27,235 from 18,650 in 2001, an increase of 46 percent.
Among industrial enterprises, Samsung Electronics filed the largest number of applications (776) and was granted the highest number of registrations (783). Of foreign companies, Toyota Jidosha KK ranked first in applications with a total of 95, while Matsushita Electronic Industrial Co., Ltd ranked first in registrations with a total of 73.
II. Matters concerning the generation, reproduction, and distribution of industrial design documents and of secondary sources of industrial design information, i.e., official gazettes
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Gazette publication
• Hard copy: Until April 1998, hard copies of the Industrial Design Gazettes were published two or three times a month, two or three months after the publication date, and were disseminated to the general public by mail for public inspection.
• CD-ROM: From May 1998 to June 2001, the Industrial Design Gazettes were published on CD-ROM with a mixed-mode data format and a comfortable, user-friendly interface utilizing Mimosa from the EPO. They were also distributed inside and outside the country. The new CD-ROM gazette has also been issued with SGML data PDF documents, including the additional Korean language font for foreign users; it also supports English installation for users with an English OS. The Korean language version of Adobe Acrobat Reader should be installed for the gazette inquiry.
• Internet: In July 2001, KIPO began posting daily PDF gazettes on its Web site. This on-line version has replaced the CD-ROM version though a master CD-ROM of each publication is archived. With this IT breakthrough, KIPO expeditiously and inexpensively provides information to its customers while cutting down publication expenses and allowing users easy access to information via the Internet.
Data Conversion Center
In January 2001, KIPO began operating the Data Conversion Center for digitizing paper-based applications for patents, utility models, trademarks and industrial designs, along with intermediate documents such as amendments, written opinions, objections, registrations, trials and paper-based gazettes at its Daejeon headquarters and the Seoul branch office; the Seoul office receives 70 percent of all applications. In 2002, the center digitized 324 kinds of paper-based documents, totaling 407,809 items; the average digitization period has been shortened from 20.7 days in 2001 to 4.2 days.
Main types of announcements of the Office in the field of industrial design information
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Since its launch, the KIPOnet system has been continually improved through the development of its subordinate systems. Computerized searches and on-line examinations have streamlined KIPO’s internal administrative processes; and electronic applications have enhanced the transparency of KIPO’s approval process.
KIPO now communicates examination results to applicants via the Internet or mobile telecommunication service; it also publishes official gazettes on the Internet and handles most registration and opposition procedures on-line. In addition, by developing the On-line Trial System in 2002, KIPO has now computerized all IPR administrative procedures except for the parts that require human judgment.
Thanks to KIPOnet’s efficiency in intellectual property (IP) administration, KIPO was awarded first prize ahead of other Korean government agencies in the 2002 Public Sector Innovation Contest.
On-line Trial System
KIPO began to set up its On-line Trial System in March 2002 and launched it in July of the same year. The system has improved KIPO’s customer service level by enabling IPR trials, along with the transfer of relevant documents, to be administered on-line through a link to the examination system.
On-line Registration Request System
On-line payment of the initial fee, registration fee and annual registration fee has been possible through Internet banking since the launch of KIPOnet in 1999. With the completion of the On-line Registration Request System in July 2002, other official fees can now be paid on-line; for example, the fees related to the change of content in the register and transfer of rights such as exclusive or non-exclusive licenses.
On-line Opposition Request System
With the commencement of the On-line Opposition Request System in July 2002, anybody can submit an opposition to an application after the application has been laid open for public inspection. Furthermore, KIPO examiners can use this system to confirm and give a final decision on proceedings involving oppositions to registrations and petitions to cancel registrations. As a result, this system helps reduce the examination period and it minimizes the risk of losing documents during their transfer.
On-line Certificate Issuance System
Since December 2002, KIPO has issued certificates in real time through its Web site. This service allows applicants to request and receive various kinds of certificates on-line and to check the progress of their requests. The kinds of documents the service now handles have increased from 13 to 15.
Electronic Approval and Routing System
KIPO’s Electronic Approval and Routing System has enabled electronic approval for IPR administration and general administration. The system comprises two major parts: an approval system for IPR examinations, which was introduced with the KIPOnet system in 1999; and an approval system for general administration, which was launched in June 2000. In 2002, the ratio of electronic approval was 99.1 percent. The system has been used for the following:
• Electronic approval: preparation, approval, dispatch and receipt of electronic documents, management of document box, and the circulation of documents.
• Electronic mail: preparation, transmission, receipt, and management of e-mail.
• Electronic board: posting and reading notices on an electronic board.
• Management of records: preservation of records.
III. Matters concerning classifying, reclassifying and indexing of industrial design information according to the classification systems applied
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KIPO uses the Korean Industrial Design Classification System, a unique system comprising 73 main classes. Although KIPO has not yet adopted the Locarno Classification, it indicates the Locarno Classification on official gazettes that have a search index containing information such as classification, applicant, application number/date, publication number/date and registration number/date.
Industrial Design Classification System and classification guidelines
Owing to the Industrial Design Classification System, constructed in September 2000, the ratio of automatic classifications increased with the introduction of goods classification by keyword.
In 2002, KIPO published guidelines for classifying industrial designs to maintain objectivity in classifications. KIPO continues to build its database by collecting various kinds of data regarding industrial design examinations, including foreign industrial design gazettes and article catalogs.
Bibliographic data and processing for search purposes
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Design database
In 2002, KIPO added 290,000 items of data from catalogs to the 1,627,000 items of data that had been complied by 2001. The data was gathered from national design gazettes, prior application drawings and catalogs. The data was classified by type of goods and loaded into the Design Search System; it is periodically updated into a batch format.
Data Management Center
Since May 2002, KIPO has managed the Data Management Center to generate and process high-quality data and to fix data errors by professional data analysis.
1) Data generation
• Rejection: 22 cases from 1994 to 1998
• Registration: image files of registrations; existing PDF or TIFF files on magnetic optical disk were converted into TIFF files standardized for the KIPOnet database.
2) Data analysis
To understand the cause of data errors and to prevent delays or further errors, KIPO analyzes the data of industrial designs in the KIPOnet database and fixes errors using the SQL program.
Storage, including mass storage media
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Industrial Design Search System
With the Industrial Design Search System, KIPO’s examiners can do text and image searches, realizing an automated environment for design examinations. The system was developed in 2000 after considering the possibility of adopting the Locarno Classification System. Completed in January 2001, the system enables examiners to conduct image–pattern matching searches and Japanese character searches of gazettes, and to search prior application drawings and catalogs. The system is continually enhanced with supplementary domestic and foreign data.
Administrative management systems (e.g., register, legal status, statistics, administrative support, etc.)
With the establishment of the KIPOnet system, all IPR administrative procedures have been automated. KIPO uses the following subsidiary systems of KIPOnet to manage the data produced in each phase of the procedure, to deal with matters that originate in the transfer of data to the next phase, and to speed up the administration of searches:
General Information Management System
The General Information Management System outputs a variety of statistical and policy data related to various types of industrial property such as patents, utility models, trademarks and industrial designs. It does this by using a variety of information retained by KIPO in database form. The system’s tools efficiently manage large-volume data and provide various features for end-users.
Data Management System
The Data Management System simplifies the procedure for correcting users’ input errors and for changing data in the old systems. It maintains a history of data changes, and guarantees correct data changes to promptly meet the requests of applicants and KIPO departments.
Applied Process Monitoring System
The Applied Process Monitoring System aims to prevent problems caused by delays in work processing. It also provides information on the problem-managing status according to application type and application form. The system analyzes the cause of problems and establishes measures to handle them.
Quality Management System
KIPO has strengthened the function of the KIPOnet Quality Management System introduced in December 2000. The system enhances work productivity by establishing standardized processes; it enables efficient use of resources through systematic process management; it also balances the workload of individuals with the workload of developers through a coordinated distribution of workloads among departments. Moreover, it facilitates efficient quality management and process improvement through continual inspection of the system and improvements in customer satisfaction.
In November 2001, KIPO was granted an ISO9001 Certificate by the Korean Foundation for Quality for its development, management and servicing of the KIPOnet system. This certificate assures that KIPO will maintain the excellent reliability and credibility of the system.
Knowledge Management System
The Knowledge Management System facilitates the sharing of information among staff members through integrated management of a variety of information and intellectual property held by KIPO. It also provides this information optionally through personalized portals. The system is dedicated to the efficient management of the knowledge and information retained by KIPO. It helps activate knowledge management by improving the productivity of IP administrative processes through the existing evaluation and reward system for knowledge-based activities.
By the end of 2002, KIPO had posted about seven thousand individual items of information on relevant Web sites, foreshadowing the construction of an infrastructure for knowledge management. The Web sites were searched 6,000 times per month. In addition, on four occasions KIPO awarded 150 of its staff for adopting mileage of its use.
Information strategic plan for developing KIPOnet II
To cope with rapid changes in the technical and legal trends of the global IPR environment, KIPO formed a task force in early 2002 to set up an information strategy plan that would present the vision and direction of KIPOnet II. The new system is expected to include a 24x365 service to the public, a work-at-home system and a customized service for examiners. In 2003, the task force will analyze the requirements and design the system. To attain high efficiency and flexibility, KIPO is considering using cutting-edge IT such as integrated middleware and XML. KIPOnet II will be operational in 2005.
Equipment used (hardware, including the types of terminal and network used, and software), data carriers used
By improving the IT infrastructure of the KIPOnet system such as the server, disks and common software, KIPO has accelerated its business processing.
Hardware
The hardware of the KIPOnet system comprises four parts: servers, storage, peripherals and networks. The server consists of 31 UNIX servers (Enterprise), one workstation, 11 NT servers and eight small servers. The storage capacity is 21 terabytes and RAID 1, 5, S and Auto RAID are used according to the method of data protection. The peripherals consist of four backup devices, 20 jukeboxes and 252 items of network equipment. In 2002, KIPO continued to replace and integrate existing servers with enhanced servers. For the backup drive, in particular, a new STK L20 was introduced and 12 LTO drives were supplemented.
For greater availability of the KIPOnet system, KIPO constructed a clustering system between the Receiving Server and the Sending Server, between the Application Administration and the Registration Server, and between the Examination-I Server and the Examination-II Server.
The Application Administration Server, for example, has a set of programs that enables the administration of registrations to cope with the unexpected problems of the Registration Server. In other words, in case of system failure in the Registration Server, the Application Administration Server temporarily substitutes for the Registration Server. The interoperability of clustering allows time to address the problem.
Since servers based on the clustering structure use the same databases when applying the Oracle Parallel System, the accuracy and suitability of data is maintained if any failure occurs in the servers.
Proxy server
In the early stage of the KIPOnet system, one of its strong points was security. The reliability of its security came from physically separating the external and internal networks. The separated networks bring in a bunch of batch processes that transfer all incoming applications to internal servers on the night of the receiving date. Many IP procedures take no more than two days due to the effectiveness of the overnight batch processing.
However, because this system requires several administrative procedures such as checking the application status in near time, KIPO introduced proxy servers that could instantly indicate the application status. Through the introduction of proxy servers, KIPO provides prompt IP service with tightened security.
Network
For storage sharing among servers, a storage area network was introduced to the KIPOnet system. The storage area network improves the efficiency of data storage and reduces the workload of disk management.
In 2002, to improve the function of the Internet application network, KIPO upgraded the network from 2 Mbps to 10 Mbps and changed to a double-line system. The backbone switch of the IP administration network was changed from an ATM to a Gigabit Ethernet switch. For the network of e-Patent Portal System, a new double-line backbone switch was introduced.
Software
In 2001, KIPO set up software for managing customer requests for its e-Patent Portal System. It also adopted the Gdomino application for handling the connection with other governmental offices related to the electronic approval system.
In 2002, KIPO enhanced the KIPOnet system by upgrading its software as follows:
• Oracle: from version 8.0.6 to version 8.1.7
• Database management software: PreciseSQL 32 bit version to 64 bit version
• DBMS·backup software: NetBackup 3.1.1 to version 3.4.2
• Test management software: WinRunner 7.0 to version 7.5.
The OLTP middleware WebtoB was adopted for the On-line Trial System, the On-line Registration Request System and the On-line Opposition Request System. In December 2002, common software was installed to monitor the Web Application Server of the E-filing System (Weblogic).
VI. Administration of industrial design services available to the public (relating to facilities, e.g., for lodging applications, registering designs, assisting clients with search procedures, obtaining official publications and registry extracts
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e-Patent Portal System
KIPO established the e-Patent Portal System to transform KIPO's Web site into an on-line service for the cyber community. For on-line registration, applicants can get e-signatures and codes via the Internet.
Through a unified portal, all kinds of intellectual property can be filed on-line with the ease of sending e-mail. Customers can pay their fees through Internet banking; and they are informed of the legal status of their applications through e-mail or mobile phone. At KIPO’s Web site, they can also get diverse certificates and search IPR information. Moreover, “by one call or by one click” customers can get answers to most questions concerning intellectual property rights. This interactive process has overcome the limitation of the one-way notification system.
Enhancement of the Korea Industrial Property Rights Information Service
Since KIPI’s independence in December 2001, the Korea Industrial Property Rights Information Service (KIPRIS) has provided a specialized IPR information service. In 2002, free online access was provided for approximately twenty million items of IP information, including 11 million items of information from abroad. The number of users increased from 3.3 million in 2001 to 3.8 million in 2002.
Expansion and enhancement of local patent information support centers
To publicize the IPR system and disseminate IPR information on a national scale, KIPO set up 15 Local Patent Information Support Centers in 2000. These centers disseminate IPR information in areas where IT illiteracy is widespread, as well as in industrial complexes and SME-concentrated areas.
In 2002, seven new centers were established. This brought the total up from 18 centers in 2001 to 25 in 2002. The number of users climbed to 114,000 from 93,000 in 2001. Moreover, 7343 participants received free IPR education through a local program, and a service was provided for local SMEs on analyzing patent information.
Call Center
To integrate scattered windows for counseling and promptly provide technical advice, KIPO established its Call Center in March 2002. The Call Center presents a single window of services to IP clients and KIPOnet users. IP procedures and technical advice are available via the telephone, email and on-line meetings. The Call Center was computerized with the incorporation of the Customer Relationship Management System. As a result, KIPO can accumulate clients' feedback for better policies and IT strategies for the future.
VII. Matters concerning mutual exchange of industrial design documentation and information
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Presentation of the KIPOnet system at international events
In December 2002, KIPO held an international forum on Partnership Opportunities and Technical Cooperation on IP & IT. Participants from seven countries including Taiwan, the Philippines, Thailand and Vietnam discussed the overall environment of IP automation, the industrial and economic impact of IP automation, and the significance of disseminating patent information. At the forum, KIPO also outlined the beneficial effects of the KIPOnet system and the APEC Technical Cooperation Project proposed by KIPO.
KIPO reiterated the efficiency of the KIPOnet system at the following events:
• the international forum on innovation in the public sector, which was held in May 2002, with participants from 15 foreign countries including the USA, Great Britain and Canada
• the APEC e-government exhibition at Seoul in July 2002
• the annual EPIDOS conference in Copenhagen
• the Korea/Mercosour E-Government Seminar in Brazil in November 2002.
Training courses for national and foreign participants
International Intellectual Property Training Institute
In 1987, the International Intellectual Property Training Institute (IIPTI) was established in Seoul as an affiliated organization of KIPO; it initially offered 11 IPR training courses. It moved to Daedeok Science Valley in Daejeon with the support of WIPO and the UNDP in February 1991. In June 2000, it offered a new training seminar for foreigners on IPR enforcement. Currently, it offers the following three courses for foreign participants:
Training course for foreigners
Since 1987, the Korean International Cooperation Agency has funded a biannual training course for foreigners. Targeting IPR officials from developing countries, the course explains in detail the Korean IPR system and the development of Korean IPR laws and policies.
In 2002, the course featured the development of IP laws, international trends of leading IPOs, and new issues such as biological patents, BM patents, and technology transfers and licensing. Held from April 13 to 26, the course attracted approximately 12 public officials from eight countries including Panama, Peru, and Vietnam.
WIPO Asian Regional Seminar
The WIPO Asian Regional Seminar has been held every year since 1988 in cooperation with WIPO. It aims at assisting the development of the international IPR system. The discussion topics include recent IPR trends and hot issues and IPR-related treaties.
The theme of the 2002 seminar was IP strategy for SMEs in the 21st century. Held from November 26 to 28, the seminar attracted 62 participants from 25 countries including the USA, Australia, Germany, Mongolia and Nepal. Participants discussed policies on the efficient promotion and use of IPRs and IPR information exchange.
Instructors course on IP training
In conjunction with WIPO and the JPO, the IIPTI established in 2001 an instructors course on IP training. The course was designed for public officials from the Asia-Pacific region who were engaged in IP training. To raise the skills of trainers, the course offers opportunities for exchanging information and sharing training experience.
From March 18 to 22, 2002, a total of 43 participants from 23 countries, including China, India, Malaysia and the Philippines, exchanged views on policies, teaching materials, IPR educational methods, and recent issues such as the Internet, e-commerce and BM-related inventions.
Assistance to developing countries (sending consultants and experts, receiving trainees from developing countries, etc.)
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IX. Other relevant matters