Korean Intellectual Property Office (KIPO) held high-level bilateral meetings with 13 IP offices, 7 of which* were from the Global South on the sidelines of the 66th General Assemblies of the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) held in Geneva, Switzerland.
* Namely, GCC Patent Office, Saudi Arabia, ARIPO, Tunisia, Egypt, India, Brazil
The Gulf Cooperation Council Patent Office (GCCPO)
Commissioner KIM Wan Ki met with Mr. Ahmed Almarshadi, President of the GCCPO which serves six Gulf countries. The two sides agreed to sign a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) for comprehensive cooperation in areas including digital transformation, patent examination, and capacity-building through training. Mr. Almarshadi emphasized that the GCCPO has chosen KIPO as a key partner for a project aimed at improving operations such as system integration and examination resource sharing across the six member states, and requested close collaboration for its phased implementation.
The Saudi Authority for Intellectual Property (SAIP)
Over the years, KIPO has maintained close collaboration with SAIP in national IP strategy development, system establishment, and examination capacity enhancement. During the meeting with President Abdulaziz AlSwailem, both sides agreed to further strengthen cooperation in areas such as big data analysis, the use of artificial intelligence (AI) to combat counterfeiting, and activities as an International Searching Authority (ISA) under the Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT). They also agreed to continue the dispatch of KIPO experts to support Saudi Arabia's examiner training, with specific discussions to follow on future areas and personnel.
The African Regional Intellectual Property Organization (ARIPO)
For the first time in 15 years, KIPO held a bilateral meeting with the delegation of ARIPO (headed by Director General Bemanya Twebaze) representing 22 English-speaking African countries. The two sides agreed to revise the existing MoU, marking a new milestone in expanding cooperation with the African region.
Office of the Controller General of Patents, Designs and Trademarks of India (CGPDTM)
In a meeting with Controller General Unnat P. Pandit, the two sides agreed to sign an MoU for mutual designation as PCT ISAs. Once the MoU is in effect, Korean companies will be able to designate the Indian office as their ISA, allowing them to obtain patents more quickly in India - thereby helping to ease previous difficulties caused by lengthy examination times.
On July 9, Commissioner Kim also held a meeting with WIPO Director General Daren Tang, during which they discussed the Director General's upcoming visit to Korea (scheduled for October 1–2), the continuation of staff exchange programs, and WIPO Korea Funds-in-Trust (FIT)* initiatives such as the support for the establishment of the Timor-Leste IP Office. Both sides agreed to continue joint efforts to build a sustainable and inclusive global IP ecosystem.
*Since its establishment in 2004, the WIPO Korea Funds-in-Trust has contributed more than KRW 19 billion to support IP capacity-building projects for youth, women, small enterprises, and developing countries, including IP policy consulting.
In addition, KIPO also held bilateral meetings with four European countries; Spain, France, the UK, and Denmark. With Ms. Elisa Rodriguez Ortiz, Director General of the Spanish Patent and Trademark Office, KIPO signed a new comprehensive MoU reflecting changes in the IP landscape such as AI technologies. With Mr. Pascal Faure, Director General of the French National Institute of Industrial Property, an MoU was signed to fully implement the Patent Prosecution Highway (PPH) program to expedite Korean applicants' patent applications in France.
*PPH: A bilateral cooperation program that enables faster examination in one country based on positive examination results in another.

Source: https://www.kipo.go.kr/en/engBultnDetail.do?board_id=kiponews&cp=1&pg=1&npp=10&catmenu=ek06_01_01&seq=1800