World’s top 5 IP offices to meet in S. Korea

South Korea will host the annual roundtable of IP5 -- the world’s top five intellectual property offices -- in Incheon’s Songdo on June 11-13, the Korean Intellectual Property Office said Sunday.

“This year’s event will be the third IP5 forum to be held here, since the first one in 2008 in Jeju Island and the second one in Busan in 2014,” KIPO said in a release.

“It will be attended by over 100 key officials, including the chiefs of the IP5 offices, director general of the World Intellectual Property Organization and user group representatives of the five countries.”

In this year’s gathering, participants will focus on IP cooperation in light of the “fourth industrial revolution,” putting the spotlight on artificial intelligence, officials said.

The IP officials will also cross review each another’s patent information search and access methods, seeking to improve user convenience of the global patent system.

Having kicked off in 2007 as a consultative body of the global top five IP offices, IP5 is deemed one of the most influential organizations in the field.

Its five member states -- the United States, Japan, European Union, China and Korea -- together account for over 85 percent of patent applications worldwide.

Asia’s fourth-largest economy is currently ranked fourth in terms of patent applications and fifth in patent applications under the Patent Cooperation Treaty.

“We hope to reach a consensus on issues that were brought up in past working-level meetings,” said KIPO Commissioner Park Won-joo, who will chair the forum.

“Such cooperation will lower costs, speed up processes and increase predictability for our companies in obtaining patents in the IP5 states.”

By Bae Hyun-jung (tellme@heraldcorp.com)