On September 14, KAIST’s Office of University and Cooperation (OUIC) announced the start of the operation of 20 new specialized patent offices. These operations have been initialized in order to improve the efficiency and proficiency of patenting and commercializing KAIST’s research output.

Through the establishment of additional patent offices, KAIST now has firm groundwork for creating and using patent rights. Also, as the patent offices will be able to provide more efficient and systematic patent management systems, the technology developers and inventors will have access to better services.

The main objective of KAIST’s patent offices is to serve as a catalyst to facilitate active collaboration and cooperation between universities and industries. The patent office provides support through various means such as the interviewing of the inventors, consultation and review on the technology, background research on the technology and the evaluation of the materials. This includes technology transfer, commercialization of the technology and early publishing of the patents. Another important role of the patent offices is being in charge of the collaboration between various enterprises and invention clubs.

Jae-Seok Jang, dean of KAIST’s OUIC commented that “Through active consultation and evaluation of the technologies and research materials with the inventor, it has become possible to attain quality intellectual property rights in a short period of time.” He also added that “The Office’s commitment is to transfer research achievements and technological breakthroughs made at the university to industries for practical application and potential benefits.”

According to the Korean Intellectual Property Office, the survey of patent ownership in the past five years from 2006 to 2010 showed that KAIST, with 4,403 patents, owns the most number of patents among all Korean universities. Also KAIST is placed first in 19 different categories, including the fields of information and communication, electric materials, semiconductors, electrical circuits, automobiles and inorganic chemistry.
 

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