VR, AR videos to be registered as intellectual property in S. Korea

Virtual reality and augmented reality videos alongside designs on streets, walls and human bodies will be eligible to be registered as intellectual property in South Korea from Thursday, the nation’s IP office said Tuesday.

According to the Korean Intellectual Patent Office, the newly revised law would protect digitally produced designs with various purposes including communication, medical and security. Previously, such designs were able to be filed as IP when they formed part of items. The designs would be protected as themselves from this week.

Uploading a registered design or something similar online without permission would now be considered as an act of IP infringement.

The revised law will allow local businesses to handle their overseas IP filings more smoothly, according to KIPO. If they file their designs overseas within six months of submitting their application here, the overseas patent offices will consider the cooperation treaty among the countries. This means the overseas IP offices will allow businesses to change the date of filing to the date the filed in Korea.

Besides protection of digital designs, the new law will protect details of product designs that have been overlooked so far, such as specific details to a cutlery set.

“The revised law would act as a turning point for the development of the design industry, amid the growing competition for new technologies and the increasing demand for innovative designs,” said Mok Sung-ho, director of the KIPO’s trademark & design evaluation bureau.

By Jung Min-kyung (mkjung@heraldcorp.com)