Korea Intellectual Property Office forum to trace roots of IP administration

The Korea Intellectual Property Office said Friday it will hold its third intellectual property policy forum on Oct. 2, bringing experts together to trace the history of the country's intellectual property administration and debate where it should head next.

The forum, held jointly with the Korea Institute of Intellectual Property, will take place at 2 p.m. at the El Tower in Seocho District, Seoul, under the theme "The Historical Footsteps of Intellectual Property Administration and the Direction Ahead." The office said the event marks one year since its launch.

Roughly 80 intellectual property specialists from industry, academia and research institutes are expected to attend, along with Kye Seung-kyun, chair of the Presidential Council on Intellectual Property, and Choi Kyu-wan, president of the Korea Institute of Intellectual Property.

"Just as a deeply rooted tree does not sway in the wind, the long history of intellectual property administration is the strength that will hold up Korea's tomorrow," said Kim Il-kyu, director general of the office's intellectual property policy bureau. Kim added that the agency will work to make intellectual property a core driver of national economic growth.

Han Ji-young, a law professor at Chosun University, will speak on the history of Korean intellectual property administration, tracing its footsteps from a petition that Ji Seok-young submitted to the king in 1882 through to the present day. Lee Jong-in, who heads the Japan intellectual property center at the Korea Intellectual Property Protection Agency, will follow with a presentation titled "The Beginnings of Korean Intellectual Property Administration and the Infant Patent Office," covering how the patent office was established and operated.

The forum opens with remarks from Choi Kyu-wan at 2 p.m., followed by congratulatory addresses from Kye Seung-kyun and Kim Il-kyu, the two presentations and the discussion, closing at 3:55 p.m.

Choi said the institute will keep identifying major issues in intellectual property systems and policy and will use the forum to widen the ground on which academics, industry, government and research institutes can debate them together.