Korean Intellectual Property Office deepens cooperation with ASEAN nations

The Korean Intellectual Property Office (KIPO) concluded three days of bilateral talks with eight ASEAN member states and the observer nation of East Timor on September 3. The discussions, held in conjunction with the 8th Korea-ASEAN Intellectual Property Office Directors’ Meeting, focused on bolstering intellectual property protection, developing IP financing, and supporting small- and medium-sized enterprises.

The meetings, which ran from September 1-3 in Seoul, saw participation from Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.

A key outcome was an enhanced memorandum of understanding with Singapore, expanding cooperation to include information exchange on artificial intelligence, IP finance and value evaluation. This builds upon existing collaborations in capacity building, commercialization and user exchanges.

KIPO also established specific work plans with Vietnam, Indonesia and Cambodia across five key areas: legal systems, education, protection, trademark cooperation and public awareness. These plans aim to strengthen the protection of Korean patents and trademarks in the region through activities like sharing best practices, conducting joint crackdowns on counterfeit products and exchanging information to prevent malicious trademark applications.

Discussions with East Timor centered on future cooperation for establishing its national IP office, a project supported by the World Intellectual Property Organization and the Korean Trust Fund.

“This meeting has solidified intellectual property cooperation with ASEAN countries,” said KIPO Administrator Wan-ki Kim. “By strengthening bilateral cooperation tailored to each country’s situation, we will continue to actively support our corporations so they do not face difficulties with patent and trademark issues in the ASEAN market.”