Korea Intellectual Property Office takes battery patent strategy to Daejeon symposium

The Korea Intellectual Property Office said Friday it will hold a secondary battery intellectual property symposium at Chungnam National University in Daejeon, as competition with China sharpens over technologies that now underpin electric vehicles, artificial intelligence and humanoid robots.

The symposium, set for 2 p.m. at the university's Baekma Hall, is a special session of the 2026 autumn conference of the Korean Battery Society, which runs from Nov. 4 to Nov. 6.

At the event, the office plans to present intellectual property strategies for battery innovation and a response strategy for protecting secondary battery technology. It will also offer poster presentations on patent filing and registration trends in major countries for battery cell safety technology, all-solid-state batteries and hydrogen supply systems for fuel-cell vehicles.

Secondary batteries are increasingly seen as an energy foundation for the AI and humanoid robot era, and Korean battery makers that built global positions on their technology now face intensifying competition from China and others. Securing patents on core technologies at the right time, and using them, has become a factor that separates companies' competitiveness.

"Systematically securing intellectual property rights for core technologies amid international technology competition is an important asset for technology commercialization and entry into overseas markets," said Lee Ho-jo, head of the office's chemical and life sciences examination bureau.

Lee said he hopes the symposium will reflect voices from research sites and serve as an opportunity to develop the office's intellectual property policy for the secondary battery field.