Program for Disseminating Patent Information for Rural Development - Proposal by the Republic of Korea-

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Program for Disseminating Patent Information for
Rural Development- Proposal by the Republic of
Korea-
Eun Kyul PARK Deputy Director, Multilateral
Affairs Division, Korean Intellectual Property
Office (KIPO) Republic of Korea October 14, 2009
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Transition to Sustainable Technological Regime

• Technological regime
• A set of rules of the game
• Each technological regime is constituted by an
  accumulation of knowledge, values, and sunk
  investment
• And is articulated by networks of actors and
  institutions
• The role of innovative technological niches
• Seedbeds for the emergence of new regimes
• Niches can transform regimes by growing and
  displacing more of the incumbent regime
  activities

Incumbent technological regime
New technological regime
Technological niche
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Transition to Sustainable Technological Regime

• From unsustainable regime to sustainable regime
• Human basic needs
• State-of-the-art technology may not be the
  optimal solution for the quality of life in areas
  of the world where the struggle for survival
  remains a top priority
• Gap between the Center and the Rural
• Criticism that industrialization and
  modernization increases the gap between the
  center and rural part of a country
• Sustainable technological niches
• Niches that lead to a sustainable technological
  regime

Unsustainable technological regime
Sustainable technological regime
Sustainable technological niche
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Transition to Sustainable Technological Regime

• Appropriate Technology as a Sustainable
  Technological Niche
• Local stewardship
• Needs provision tailored to local circumstances
• Examples of Appropriate Technology
• Solar heat cooker
• Money maker
• Life straw
• Q-drum

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The AT Movement Activities

• Design for the Other 90
• 90 of the worlds total population have little
  or no access to most of the products and services
  that many of us take for granted
• A growing movement among designers to design
  low-cost solutions for this other 90
• Volunteers for International Technical Assistance
  (VITA)
• Problem Solving Approach vs. modernization theory
• Practical approach vs. politically charged 70s
  appropriate-technology movement

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The AT Movement Activities

• UNDP China example
• Four year project, "Alleviating Rural Poverty
  through Innovative Technologies Transfer" is
  designed to link farmers with innovative,
  environmentally-friendly technologies in order to
  increase their income and promote sustainable
  rural development
• Technical Task Forces (TTFs) that will not only
  introduce better technologies to farmers but also
  innovative organizational methods for farmers to
  receive tailor-made technological services to
  increase their income.

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Lessons from the AT Movement

• Successful Elements of the AT movement
• Affordable technology for the local people
• Technology that is not highly depend on fuel
  energy, electricity but can be sourced from the
  locally available resources
• Technology that is easy to use, repair, and
  maintain by the own hand of local people
• Problem solving approach
• Lack of water, agricultural problems, inadequate
  housing, and energy issues
• Technology spillovers
• Flow of technology from outside to local people
• Limits of the AT movement
• Lack of systematic approach Highly dependent on
  individual engineers and volunteers

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Opportunity for the Intellectual Property
Community

• The role of patent information in technology
  transfer (source WIPO lecture material)
• Transfer of technology by knowledge spillovers,
  legal copying and reverse engineering may be much
  greater than by formal methods
• Much of this technology is disclosed via the
  patent system
• Opportunities for exploiting patent information
• (source WIPO lecture material)
• A patent is territorial, but disclosure is global
• Patents are limited in time
• The scope of the patent is limited by its claims
• Patents gives the owners a right to prevent
  others from carrying out the invention but not
  from learning from the invention

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Opportunity Stemming from the Patent System

• Patent system (patent information) as a solution
  database
• Approx. 900,000 new patent families filed in
  2005(source WIPO)
• Almost all possible technical ideas can be
  extracted from patent database

Patents in public domain
Patents in force
Target area
State-of-the-art
1 year
20 year
expired
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Opportunity Stemming from the Patent System
Designing new device
Analyze the legal status of a patent
Design around the patent claims
Analyze the technical aspects of the invention
Is it in the public domain?
NO
claims
yes
Use the technology of the invention
Utilize the whole technical aspects of patent
information
Analyze the technical aspects of the invention
Detailed description of the invention
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Policy Implications for the IP Community
Explore the Merits of the AT movement Explore the Merits of the AT movement
Affordable technology for the local people Consideration of the socio-technical environment
Problem solving approach Needs-based approach
Technology spillovers Use of patent information
Overcome the Limits of the AT movement Overcome the Limits of the AT movement
Lack of systematic approach Systematical organization of patent information on AT
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Koreas Pilot Project
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3
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Technological needs
Designing AT
Distribution of AT

• questionnaire
• consulting mission
• request from communities

• research
• utilize other AT source?
• (ex) appropedia.org
• design for the other
• 90

• social enterprise
• through NGO
• Gov. and international organization

Design matters!!!
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Koreas Pilot Project
Patents in public domain
Patent A
Patent B
Patent C
Component c
Component a
Component b
Component a
Component b
Component c
New AT device
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Koreas Pilot Project
www.IPforLiving.org
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Patent Information for Local Development
Patent Information
Legal status information
Decision supporting information
Technical information
Just for RD?
VS
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We propose at the CDIP- The Use of Patent
Information in the Transfer of Appropriate
Technology

• Stage One Dissemination of AT Information
• Problem identification process
• technological needs in rural areas
• Identified by expert mission, country request,
  technology support task force (TSTF)
• Collection of AT Information
• Collect problem related technological information
  from a patent database
• Transformation of AT information
• Convert patent information into appropriate
  technology format, considering socio-technical
  environment
• Accumulation and Dissemination
• Accumulate AT information and disseminate to whom
  need

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We propose at the CDIP The Use of Patent
Information in the Transfer of Appropriate
Technology of Appropriate Technolog

• Stage Two Support for the Implementation of AT
• Network with Enterprises and other International
  Organizations Projects
• Workshop on the utilization of patent information
  on appropriate technologies to be organized for
  enterprises
• Patent information on appropriate technologies
  can be utilized in projects funded by other
  international organizations or donors

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Relevance to the Development Agenda

• Recommendation 31 To undertake initiatives
  agreed by Member States, which contribute to
  transfer of technology to developing countries,
  such as requesting WIPO to facilitate better
  access to publicly available patent information.
• Impacts of the project for transfer of technology
  to developing countries
• The project will facilitate better access by
  NGOs, enterprises researchers to publicly
  available patent information on appropriate
  technologies and their implementation of such
  technologies
• As such, the project will contribute to the
  implementation of the Development Agenda

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• Thank You!
• Eun Kyul PARK
• Korean Intellectual Property Office
• Republic of Korea
• 82-42-481-8604
• ekpark_at_kipo.go.kr