Arab News, Saturday, Jan 22, 2022 | Jamada Al-Aakhirah 18, 1443
Saudi Arabia and South Korea sign intellectual property partnership
Saudi Arabia: Saudi Arabia and South
Korea recently agreed to implement 35 intellectual property projects together.
A memorandum of understanding was signed on the
sidelines of the Saudi-Korean Investment Forum in Riyadh by Dr. Abdulaziz
Al-Suwailem, chief executive officer at the Saudi Authority for Intellectual
Property, and Dr. Kim Yong Rae, commissioner of the Korean Intellectual Property
Office, in the presence of Korean President Moon Jae-in.
The agreement, according to a statement, “enhances
the strategic partnership between South Korea and Saudi Arabia,” and will
involve the secondment of Korean IP experts to Riyadh.
SAIP spokesman Yasser Hakami told Arab News that
the MoU laid out the framework, projects, timeline and procedures for the
specified bilateral cooperative activities.
“Within this arrangement, the two sides will
implement a number of programs and projects that will foster an IP ecosystem
through patent examination, IP information, and national IP strategies. There
will also be an IP Academy program, in which invention classes will be provided
to elementary school children. The program will also include developing and
implementing promotional activities to encourage Saudi female inventors,” Hakami
said.
He added that the two parties will meet regularly
to review and evaluate the implementation of this arrangement and “will suggest
complementary measures or future plans if needed.”
According to the agreement, the two sides may
allow third parties from both countries to take part in implementing the
projects. The agreement will remain in effect until all the programs and
projects are completed, which is expected to take two years.
This is not the first time the two parties have
collaborated. On September 25, 2018, KIPO and SAIP signed an MoU on bilateral
cooperation in the field of intellectual property at a high-level meeting in
Geneva.