WI, Hiring Legal Experts to Target Global Markets

[Asia Economy Reporter Hyungsoo Park] WI, a company specializing in intellectual property (IP) licensing, announced on the 9th that it has appointed attorney Choi Won-sik as an outside director to target the overseas IP market. The shareholders' meeting will be held at 9 a.m. on August 24 at the main auditorium of WI headquarters in Cheonan, Chungnam. The term of office is three years.

Attorney Choi has diverse experience and professional legal knowledge related to IP. He graduated from Seoul National University School of Law and completed the Judicial Research and Training Institute (18th class). He has served as a port commissioner at Incheon Port Authority, legal advisor to Incheon Metropolitan City Hall, and as a member of the 19th National Assembly. Currently, he is the dean of the Korea-China Advanced Course "Today's China" and the representative attorney at the law firm Geongun.

WI recently expanded its collaboration domain from domestic IP to globally competitive IP through IP licensing contracts with LCK (League of Legends Champions Korea), Krafton's Battlegrounds, SmartStudy's Pinkfong Baby Shark, and Com2uS's Summoners War.

Together with its affiliate SSHOWLAB, WI launched various LCK brand merchandising products such as gaming gear, apparel, home & office items, and team goods on the official LCK shop on the 7th. Since 80% of LCK viewers reside overseas, systems for overseas shipping and payment have also been established. Goods for the 10 teams will be sold soon.

Started in 2012, LCK recorded an average daily peak viewership of 4.63 million during the "2020 LCK Spring." For the finals of the "2020 LoL World Championship" (Worlds), where LCK's DWG KIA won the championship, more than 3.2 million people applied for tickets to attend in person. Approximately 46 million people watched simultaneously. Since 2021, LCK has introduced a franchise system and unveiled a new brand. Currently, 10 teams are competing in the "2021 LCK" regular league.