The external framework of the Patent Office's Technology Design Special Judicial Police Division (hereinafter referred to as Technology Police) has been completed.
On the 27th, the Patent Office announced that the Technology Police has been regularized through the revision of the "Organization of the Patent Office and Its Affiliated Agencies (Presidential Decree)."
The regularization of the Technology Police was decided after an evaluation of newly established organizations by the Ministry of the Interior and Safety. The Ministry evaluates newly established units (such as divisions, bureaus, and departments) of central administrative agencies every three years to determine whether to regularize, abolish, or extend the evaluation period. In the evaluation, the Technology Police was recognized for its significant role in protecting intellectual property rights.
The recent increase in technology theft and infringement crimes, as well as the emergence of overseas technology leakage through industrial spies as a social issue, were also positive factors for the regularization of the Technology Police.
From the perspective of national economic and technological security, the need to strengthen the government's response system to technology crimes and the cooperation system among counterintelligence agencies highlighted the necessity of regularizing the Technology Police.
The Technology Police began its activities in March 2019 as the Patent, Trade Secret, and Design Investigation Team within the Industrial Property Investigation Division. Its purpose is to respond to technology and design infringement crimes such as patents, utility models, trade secrets, and designs.
At that time, the Technology Police started with six personnel. Since then, the number of personnel increased to 15 in March 2021, 22 in July 2021, and 24 in February 2024. The team is composed of experts with experience in patent and design examination and trials, as well as professionals such as PhDs, lawyers, and patent attorneys in various fields.
Data on criminal charges filed in the field of intellectual property crimes by the Technology Police from 2019 to 2023. Provided by the Korean Intellectual Property Office.
During its period as a newly established organization, the Technology Police collaborated with related agencies such as the National Intelligence Service, prosecution, police, and Customs Service to block the overseas leakage of national core and advanced technologies, preventing economic damages worth billions of won.
It is also noteworthy that the number of criminal suspects in the intellectual property rights field, which was only 200 when the Technology Police first started investigations in 2019, increased 2.6 times to 522 last year.
Based on these achievements, the Technology Police received the Presidential Award at the end of last year. It is also evaluated to have contributed to the Patent Office being designated as the seventh counterintelligence agency following the National Intelligence Service, Ministry of Justice, Customs Service, National Police Agency, Coast Guard, and Defense Counterintelligence Command.
The Patent Office plans to further narrow the blind spots in investigations of technology theft, infringement, and overseas leakage crimes by regularizing the Technology Police organization.
Jung In-sik, Director of the Industrial Property Protection Cooperation Bureau at the Patent Office, said, "As global competition for technological supremacy intensifies, protecting domestic research and development technology and intellectual property rights becomes increasingly important. The Patent Office will use the regularization as a stepping stone to further strengthen the expertise of the Technology Police and enhance investigative capabilities through increased personnel and expanded specialized training."
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