Corporate competitiveness depends on protecting intellectual property rights

Intellectual property rights (IP) refer to rights to knowledge, information, technology, ideas and other intangible intellectual creations. With advanced technological development, intellectual property has become a key factor that determines the competitiveness of countries and companies. In order to protect such intellectual property rights, the Basic Act on Intellectual Property was enacted in 2010. The main point of the bill is the creation, protection, and utilization of intellectual property and the creation of a foundation for it. Ultimately, the purpose is to enhance the value of intellectual property and strengthen the competitiveness of companies.

With the advent of the digital information age, the scope of property rights such as software and content has expanded significantly, and companies are also taking active steps to protect copyright. According to statistics from the Korea Copyright Commission, the number of copyright registrations for domestic corporations has been steadily increasing over the past five years: 21,937 in 2019, 28,809 in 2020, 28,863 in 2021, 32,204 in 2022, and 30,234 in 2023.

What is important to note here is that the protection period is different depending on the type of right. The duration of the patent right is divided into 20 years for invention and design rights and 10 years for utility model rights. Therefore, in industries where it takes a long time to build a business, it is important to time the patent well. This is because filing an application too early or too late can have a significant impact on business. You can safely protect your business idea by disclosing the patent while securing the rights, and the rights can be guaranteed until the planned period. In addition, international applications also require sufficient consideration because the laws applicable to each country are different. Since patent duration, annual fees, etc. vary from country to country, a mid- to long-term plan must be made and a strategic approach must be taken.

The reason why companies proactively respond to copyright infringement through trademark registration and patent applications is because there is a high risk of leakage of confidential information. This is because technologies and designs that a company has worked hard to develop can cause enormous losses if they are leaked to the outside world. In particular, if a company loses its competitiveness due to leakage of core technology, it may eventually lose its market advantage and face the risk of bankruptcy.

Accordingly, each company must recognize the importance of acquiring and utilizing intellectual property rights, strengthen compliance for internal information management, and prepare a system to minimize damage. Additionally, if a leak or infringement of intellectual property has already occurred, efforts should be made to prove the act of technology theft.

Sejeong Hwang, a lawyer specializing in intellectual property rights at Daeryun Law Firm (Limited), said, “The leaked technology, the source of the leak, and the scale of damage to the company caused by the leak must be clearly organized, and based on this, legal measures such as civil, criminal, and administrative lawsuits must be taken to resolve the problem more quickly.” He added, “A company’s competitiveness depends on the protection of intellectual property rights. It is advisable to abandon the idea that it is too late and take steps now to come up with various plans to protect intellectual property rights.” reported.

Reporter Jin Ga-young (news@lawissue.co.kr)

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Corporate competitiveness depends on intellectual property protection (go)