Nvidia, Hyundai Motor, Alteogen... What Successful Companies Have Done Is This [Prime Intellectual Property]

Rapidly Changing Technology Market... Growing Need for Technology Transfer
KIPA: "Lower Technology Development Risks and Cut Costs"
Plan to Increase Number of IP Transaction Experts from 17 to 100

Hyundai Motor, NVIDIA, and Alteogen, among other high-performing companies, share one thing in common: they have successfully driven their businesses through the process of "technology transfer," in which core technologies are brought in from outside or exported to external partners.

Jensen Huang, CEO of NVIDIA, Yonhap News

Earlier this year, Alteogen signed a contract worth 400 billion won by transferring its "ALT-B4" technology to a subsidiary of the global pharmaceutical company GSK. Since acquiring Boston Dynamics in 2020, Hyundai Motor Group has been accelerating its robotics-related business. NVIDIA has boldly invested 29 trillion won to secure technology licenses and talent from the semiconductor design startup Groq, in order to seize leadership in the market for inference artificial intelligence (AI) chips.

Kim Hyunmyung, an expert advisor at the Korea Invention Promotion Association, highlighted the importance of technology transfer at the Ministry of SMEs and Startups' "Public-Private Joint Technology Commercialization R&D (Technology Transfer Commercialization) Briefing" held last month, citing these companies as examples. He said, "Hyundai Motor, NVIDIA, and GSK are not adopting technologies because they lack research capabilities," adding, "We now live in an era where it is difficult for a single company to develop all the technologies it needs on its own."

We are currently in an age of technological revolution, where product life cycles are shortening and similar alternative technologies are emerging rapidly. For companies seeking to respond to fast-changing market conditions, technology transfer is therefore a smart choice. They must also take into account the risk that, even after spending years of time and money to develop in-house technologies, commercialization may still fail.

Kim emphasized, "In the case of advanced technologies in particular, there are many component technologies that make up a single product, and it is difficult for one company to develop all of those component technologies," adding, "By bringing in technologies through technology adoption, companies can reduce the risks of technology development and cut costs."

Boston Dynamics' Atlas

According to the Act on the Promotion of Technology Transfer and Commercialization, the scope of technology transfer is quite broad, covering not only patents but also utility models, designs, software programs, copyrights, and industrial know-how. The forms of technology transfer also span a wide range, from assignment and licensing to joint research, joint ventures, and mergers and acquisitions (M&A).

The Korea Invention Promotion Association currently has 17 intellectual property (IP) transaction experts by field, and it has set a goal of increasing this number to 100 by 2030. These IP transaction experts act as intermediaries between technology suppliers and demand-side companies, helping ensure that patented technologies are utilized in the right place at the right time.

Since October 1 last year, when the Korean Intellectual Property Office was upgraded to the Korea Intellectual Property Administration, the newly established Intellectual Property Transaction Division has also been in charge of work related to technology transfer. In this way, organizations and personnel dedicated to promoting technology transfer are expanding.

Kim said, "There are many cases in which domestic small and medium-sized enterprises have brought in excellent external technologies, developed new products, and gone on to succeed in business," and added, "If a company does not have in-house patent experts, I hope they will seek support for technology matching and technology transfer through the Korea Intellectual Property Administration."