Patents are often considered ways to appreciate and protect technological inventions. But they are also a highly practical capitalist resource that may open the door to a lucrative market, according to the developer of a patent big data technology system.

“Even those who recognize the market potential of the intellectual property sector are quite nearsighted, failing to see beyond the current industrial borders,” Eric Min-soo Kang, patent attorney and CEO of PatentPia, told The Korea Herald in an interview.
 

The true significance of patents, in a capitalist point of view, is the drastic value increment that may be created during the transfer and convergence of rights and the related manpower, according to Kang.

“When addressing the patent issue, we’re talking about a multitrillion dollar global market with over 50 million registered patents, 1 million related technologies, 40 million researchers, 3 million companies, and 500,000 experts,” he said.

“By applying artificial intelligence and big data technology, one may strategically identify IP resources and transfer them into optimized positions, and ultimately maximize the market value of these conventionally intangible assets.”

The company’s core goal is to move a step ahead in this underexploited market which is expected to yield a yearly profit of over $1 billion, Kang explained.

“This is why I named the company after King Gwanggaeto, a figure who refused to be bound by historical or territorial restrictions and sought to reach out to a broader world,” he added, referring to PatentPia’s Korean title “Gwanggaeto Institute.”

“To some, patent data may be all about searching and analyzing conventional patent-related information for the sake of patent applications or lawsuits, but in our perspective, it is the single most underdeveloped resource that will open new business horizons.”

Since its foundation in 2002, the company has been establishing a comprehensive patent resource database that encompasses patent content, their original applicants, their former and current owners, as well as a track record on their places of registration.

One of the unique functions provided by PatentPia is its ability to track the geographical relocation of patents, which enables its system users to check whether a specific patent has passed through a tax haven.

“(A) patent is not just a decent way of recognition for technology. It is a highly useful tool to keep track of business transactions and to figure out a nation’s tax system,” Kang said.

For instance, a number of nonmemory technology patents formerly affiliated with Hynix, before its acquisition by South Korean chipmaker SK, are currently owned by Intellectual Ventures, a US-based nonpracticing entity known for its frequent patent suits against tech giants.

“Through our system, we can check the transaction history of a specific patent, including its tax haven track records, and figure out the business entities that are heavily dependent on the given patent -- and are thus likely to take interest in the related deals,” Kang said.

To broaden perspectives and realize new value through IP, it is important to step beyond the “inventor’s fantasy,” he added.

“The Korean Intellectual Property Office has long labored this fantasy that smart, diligent inventors should be recognized and awarded through the patent system, but this is such a naive and shortsighted view,” he said.

“Capitalist value is created through innovation, and innovation mostly is created through technology. The point is to take a systematic, strategic approach towards technology and seek to convert it into practical value.”

A valid example is Google’s acquisition of UK artificial intelligence startup Deepmind in 2014, a deal which cost the US tech giant $600 billion but later pulled up its market cap by $60 trillion.

“In our competitive modern world, there are few ways other than IP to achieve such drastic capitalist value increment,” Kang said.

Seeking to further expand its boundaries, the company launched PatentPia Golden Compass, a big data service to analyze and predict promising future technologies.

“This new service will be useful not only for investors but also for potential M&A deals as it offers organized data on the technological competitiveness and concentration of hidden industry champions,” the CEO said.

By Bae Hyun-jung (tellme@heraldcorp.com)

The Korea Herald is publishing a series of interviews on experts in the intellectual property sector. This is the fifth installment. -- Ed.