Secondary battery patent examination will be conducted 'faster and more accurately' with the launch of a dedicated organization.

The Korean Intellectual Property Office announced on the 13th that it will launch a dedicated secondary battery examination organization with a total of three departments, including the establishment of two new departments and the reorganization of one department, to ensure rapid and accurate examination of secondary battery-related technologies.

We are accelerating the process of providing ultra-gap support by establishing a secondary battery patent examination package support system, including the existing priority examination of secondary battery patents, the hiring of private sector expert examiners in the secondary battery field, and the launch of a dedicated examination organization.

The newly launched 'Secondary Battery Material Review Division', 'Secondary Battery Design Review Team', and 'Secondary Battery Control Management Review Team' are evaluated to have established a review organization system tailored to the entire secondary battery technology ecosystem.

The three divisions in charge of secondary battery examinations will be comprised of a total of 83 people, including 45 existing secondary battery examination personnel at the Patent Office and 38 examiners hired from the private sector. The plan is to increase both screening efficiency and screening quality by assigning existing and new personnel to three secondary battery screening departments.

It is also expected that this reorganization will enable rapid rights acquisition by establishing a dedicated secondary battery review organization, thereby enabling stable protection of secondary battery-related technologies.

Secondary battery technology is considered the driving force behind electric vehicles in the carbon-neutral era and a key to driving the next-generation national industrial development. Along with semiconductors, it is also evaluated as an important asset for our economy. Major domestic companies such as LG Energy Solution, SK On, and Samsung SDI are standing out in the global market.

Recently, technological competition between major countries has become fierce, and the number of patent applications related to secondary battery technology has been increasing rapidly by an annual average of 13% over the past five years (2019-2023).

To expand the technology gap through timely acquisition of patent rights, companies' demand for rapid examination services is also increasing.

The Korean Intellectual Property Office has expanded its support for the patent examination package to the secondary battery technology sector, thanks to the success of its support for the semiconductor patent examination package. It plans to expand its support to other advanced technology sectors in the future.

Koo Young-min, Planning and Coordination Officer of the Korean Intellectual Property Office, said, “The Korean Intellectual Property Office’s various efforts to support the ultra-gap in the secondary battery technology field have been concretized, from the implementation of the priority examination system in the secondary battery field and the hiring of private sector experts as examiners to the establishment of a dedicated examination organization,” adding, “We will continue to make efforts to support securing the ultra-gap in national strategic technologies such as bio and artificial intelligence through consultations with relevant ministries.”