"Judged as a Valuable Opportunity" Semiconductor Experts Start Second Careers at the Korean Intellectual Property Office

[Asia Economy (Daejeon) Reporter Jeong Il-woong] “I think this is a 'valuable opportunity' to revive the technical know-how and experience I acquired while working as an engineer.”

Specialized personnel who have honed their skills in the semiconductor field have found an opportunity to realize their dream of a second career at the Korean Intellectual Property Office (KIPO). They are considered veterans in the semiconductor industry. However, putting aside the premium of the field, they decided to embark on a journey to find new meaning in public service. This is the story of those recently hired as patent examiners at KIPO.

On the 23rd, KIPO selected and announced 30 final successful candidates for the 'Semiconductor Field Professional Term-Appointment (Grade B) Patent Examiner Recruitment.'

The average age of the final successful candidates is 53.8 years, with the oldest being 60 and the youngest 41. Their average experience in the semiconductor field is 23 years and 9 months, with 83% holding master's or doctoral degrees, and 90% currently employed in the field. This is why the successful candidates can be called veterans well-versed in the latest technological trends in semiconductors.

The background for KIPO hiring semiconductor professionals as patent examiners is to strengthen the competitiveness of the domestic semiconductor industry amid increasingly fierce semiconductor technology supremacy competition.

The main reason for hiring specialized personnel is to prevent core technologies from leaking overseas through competitors based abroad by utilizing experts with abundant field experience and know-how, and to secure a semiconductor technological edge through expedited patent examination by these experts.

Initially, there were concerns that hiring semiconductor professionals as patent examiners at KIPO was unrealistic. These concerns stemmed from hiring highly skilled personnel as term-appointed public officials without guaranteed tenure and with lower salaries compared to the private sector.

However, contrary to expectations, 175 applicants applied for the 30 patent examiner positions, resulting in a competition ratio of 6 to 1. Considering that the usual competition ratio for KIPO's professional term-appointment examiner recruitment is around 2 to 3 to 1, this is considered 'unprecedented.'

Especially notable is that among the applicants, 150 (86%) came from semiconductor companies, and 4 applicants with overseas company experience applied for domestic return, proving the effectiveness of patent examiner recruitment as a measure to prevent technology leakage.

Behind this, semiconductor professionals applying for patent examiner positions seem to place more meaning on designing a new life in public service rather than the immediate benefits they would gain in the field.

For example, successful candidate A said, “I was greatly attracted by the recruitment announcement that personnel working in private companies (semiconductor field) would be hired as patent examiners,” and added, “I expect that my technical know-how and experience will be given new value.”

Candidate B also said, “Seeing many colleagues in the domestic semiconductor industry being scouted by overseas companies, I deeply felt the problems of technology leakage and the importance of patents,” and added, “I applied for the patent examiner position with the determination to contribute to maintaining the domestic semiconductor industry's status as a top-tier powerhouse.”

Following the success of the first patent examiner recruitment, KIPO plans to conduct additional recruitment of semiconductor field professional patent examiners in the second half of this year.

Above all, based on the future performance of the first 30 patent examiners hired, KIPO plans to consult with government ministries such as the Ministry of the Interior and Safety to expand the scope of patent examiner recruitment to other technology fields beyond semiconductors, such as secondary batteries.

Deputy Commissioner Ryu Dong-hyun of KIPO said, “The recruitment of semiconductor professionals as patent examiners was promoted as part of the government's semiconductor industry promotion policy,” and added, “We expect that hiring patent examiners will help prevent overseas job changes of key personnel in the semiconductor field and enhance patent competitiveness in the semiconductor sector.”

Meanwhile, the professional term-appointment (Grade B) is a term-appointed public official position equivalent to Grade 5, appointed to perform tasks requiring specialized knowledge or skills. The initial term is 2 years, which can be extended up to a maximum of 10 years.