Patent Office, Recruiting Companies to Participate in 'Innovative Idea' Contest

Park Won-joo, Commissioner of the Korean Intellectual Property Office (fourth from the left in the front row), is taking a commemorative photo with the awardees at the 'Life Innovation Idea Contest' award ceremony held last June. Photo by Korean Intellectual Property Office

[Asia Economy (Daejeon) Reporter Jeong Il-woong] The Korean Intellectual Property Office (KIPO) is recruiting companies to participate in the '2020 3rd Innovation Idea Contest.'

According to KIPO on the 10th, this contest is scheduled to be held in October to support companies and prospective entrepreneurs who face difficulties in improving products and services or planning new products or new businesses.

The 3rd contest will be conducted in an 'experiential' format, where participants propose ideas after experiencing related products and services.

Recruitment of participating companies will be conducted separately for the 'experiential' and 'non-experiential' categories for one month starting from the 11th of this month. The target participants are companies or prospective entrepreneurs interested in change and innovation.

At this time, applying companies must specifically describe and submit the tasks requiring ideas to solve immediate problems such as improving existing products and services or planning new products and new businesses.

Also, if companies wish to receive ideas after providing opportunities to experience related products or services in advance, they can apply under the 'experiential' category; companies that find it difficult to provide such opportunities separately can choose the 'non-experiential' category.

KIPO plans to analyze the problem-solving tasks submitted by companies and hold a customized idea contest. If companies use the contest ideas to improve products and commercialize them, KIPO will provide patent application and commercialization consulting, as well as education related to idea transactions and protection.

Companies wishing to participate in the contest can fill out the application form posted on the Korea Invention Promotion Association website by the 11th of next month and submit it via email to the person in charge.

For more details, refer to the Korea Invention Promotion Association website or receive guidance through the Korea Invention Promotion Association Intellectual Property Exchange.

Park Ho-hyung, Director of the Industrial Property Policy Bureau at KIPO, said, "The public's ideas play a role like a partner necessary for corporate change and innovation," adding, "We hope that through the contest, companies will have an opportunity to understand what the public wants and solve problems."