On the margins of the 16th Annual Meeting of the IP5 Heads of Office held in Honolulu, Hawai'i, KIPO delegation had bilateral talks with their important counterparts from the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) and European Patent Office (EPO) on June 12 (local time).

KIPO Commissioner Lee Insil and Under Secretary of Commerce for Intellectual Property and USPTO Director Kathi Vidal talked about the recent developments in filings and IP policy at the respective offices and various projects conducted to enhance examiners' professional capacities, and shared their views on the importance of encouraging women's participation in the IP field.

Concluding the meeting, the heads signed a Memorandum of Understanding that set out future cooperation activities on sharing IP-related, non-confidential information and best practices that are relevant to the efficient operation of the office, developing capacity building programs and promoting the role of IP protection in technology transfer and commercialization of innovation. The two Offices reaffirmed their willingness to continue to actively engage with one another to provide their users and customers with timely services of higher quality.

In the meeting with the EPO, Commissioner Lee and EPO President Antonio Campinos also shared the latest information in patent filings and changes in IP systems, and discussed the possibility of conducting a joint study into AI-related inventions.

Mentioning the launch of the Unitary Patent in Europe which is widely seen as the biggest change since the inception of the European Patent Convention, the heads acknowledged that the user seminar held on this subject in May, South Korea for local audience ended with a success thanks to the close collaboration between the two Offices. They agreed to provide necessary supports to one another to ensure the smooth settlement of the new system and keep users and customers updated on new developments.

Commissioner Lee said "I was pleased to meet our counterparts bilaterally, to sign the Memorandum with the USPTO to enhance our bilateral cooperation, based on the strengthened relations between the two countries since President Yoon Suk Yeol's state visit to the US in April, and discuss future collaboration with regard to the Unitary Patent system. KIPO will continue to closely work with them to provide higher-quality services to our users and customers and help them fast acquire their IP rights in these regions."