Though many notable scientists and academic figures write popular treatises on their fields of expertise, the practice has been notably rare among most KAIST professors. This is especially true when the book itself does not concern the academic’s own particular field of research. Yet uniquely among his peers, Professor Dong-Soo Han of the Department of Computer Science has recently done precisely that; he has written a volume for popular audiences concerning patent law, with his publication of Patents: Infinite Challenge (Teukheo Muhan Dojeon). The KAIST Herald went to find out more.

I am Professor Dong-Soo Han of the Intelligence Service Integration Laboratory. I research mainly information technology (IT) based integrative technologies such as Wi-Fi based indoor orientation, bioinformatics, and healthcare services. Based on the new technologies that my lab has developed, I have tried my hand at establishing venture companies: VILand and VISoft in 2001 and 2003, respectively. Based on my experience in business, I feel I have come to know patent law in some level of detail.

During my early years in business, my company once ran into difficult times. A lot of the key engineers who were so instrumental in keeping the business going eventually left to find better prospects at larger corporations. I came to realize then that smaller companies, especially those related to engineering and technology, had nothing to go on but technological know-how. This naturally led to my interest in patent law because all important technologies can be reduced to but a few patents. Patents are crucial in preserving ownership over what intellectual property you have staked out or developed. I felt patents were the only manner in which small companies could preserve their identity and keep going. Thus, I began converting my research into patents, filing for over 70 in all. I felt that if I could do it, so should anyone else who is interested.

Intellectual property such as patents constitutes an important part of overall national competitiveness, especially in the fields of engineering and technology. That is to say, the number of patents a country has directly correlates with its primacy over technology. Though Koreans in general apply for a lot of patents, this country’s control over key technologies is still very slim, with significant losses over royalty payments (even for giants such as Samsung or LG). I feel that the key issue is that we, especially our younger demographic, are not as aware of patent-related issues as, for example, people in the United States or Europe, because our institutions rarely educate their students about these matters. For people who are already involved in creating new knowledge or inventions, patents provide a method of preserving their ownership over certain intellectual property.   

What characterizes your book apart from other patent-related publications? 

Past books on the subject have always been written by attorneys, patent clerks, journalists, and professional writers instead of the inventors themselves. I would say that they do not have as acute an understanding of what “sparks” the invention process in the first place, and have less of a familiarity with the technological dimensions. Naturally, I tried to write a book that described what technologies are able to become patents, how patents should be filed, et cetera from the perspective of the inventor and engineer himself. Rather than go on at length about how patent laws and application processes work in detail, I found it convenient to convey the important moments from my own experience with patents. I think this makes the book more approachable from the viewpoint of not just an engineer or anyone interested in invention, but also the general audience.

 What difficulties have you experienced with patents?

At first, one often feels that any of his or her ideas is a world-beater. Yet, even the most meticulously and painstakingly written patent applications often fail the auditing process; this is most often because similar patents already exist. Thus, one must research prior technologies in detail to file a patent in a particular area. Also, even if the idea is unique, the auditors may have issues with the patent’s scope, especially if it clashes with what preexistent patents already hold sway over. Although the possibility of successful application increases if one decreases the patent scope, this also means that the patent has less value. These are all difficult yet important issues to think over during the application process.         

As leaders of future Korean science and technology, KAIST students have the responsibility to know about patents. This will help provide financial benefits and prestige not just to the inventor but to this society as a whole.