Patent Office Strengthens Verification Against Plagiarism and Theft of Contest Ideas

[Asia Economy (Daejeon) Reporter Jeong Il-woong] The Korean Intellectual Property Office (KIPO) is taking measures to eradicate fraudulent activities by strengthening the verification of plagiarism and unauthorized use of ideas submitted to contests.

On the 5th, KIPO announced that it has revised and distributed the "Contest Idea Protection Guidelines" to safeguard contest ideas.

The revision focuses on ▲strengthening the verification process for submitted ideas ▲stipulating legal responsibility for submitting plagiarized or unauthorized ideas ▲reflecting amendments to the "Unfair Competition Prevention and Trade Secret Protection Act" ▲clarifying the organizer's obligation not to use untraded ideas submitted ▲and specifying principles for profit-sharing to expand the use of contest ideas.

Along with the guideline revision, KIPO will establish operational regulations detailing types of fraudulent acts, judgment criteria, and measures, and will conduct verification of fraudulent acts by requesting prior art investigations from specialized institutions.

Proposers who participate in contests through dishonest means such as idea plagiarism or unauthorized use will be held civilly and criminally liable, and the theft of contest ideas by contest organizers will be considered unfair competition, subject to administrative investigations and corrective recommendations.

The revision also includes the organizer's obligation to refrain from using untraded ideas. Organizers must pledge a "non-use agreement" not to arbitrarily use untraded ideas submitted to the contest, and if violated, a separate transaction for the idea must be conducted.

Furthermore, to expand the utilization of ideas, the principles for determining joint ownership and profit-sharing ratios based on contributions when organizers or other participants improve or develop ideas submitted to contests have been clearly defined.

Lee In-sil, Commissioner of KIPO, stated, "With the revision of the guidelines, a foundation has been established to safely protect ideas submitted to contests," and added, "KIPO expects this to have a preventive effect against fraudulent acts such as idea plagiarism and unauthorized use."