기술개발이나 제조활동을 하지 않고 특허권을 구매하여 특허소송이나 실시권 계약을 통해 수익을 창출하는 기업인 “특허관리전문회사”에 대하여 과거 무작위적인 특허침해주장이나 과도한 실시료 요구 등으로 인하여 부정적인 인식이 존재해 왔다. 그러나 현재 글로벌 시장에서는 특허를 활용해 수익을 창출하는 특허관리전문회사의 활동이 활발하여 특허시장에 있어 비즈니스 모델로 정착되어 있다. 이러한 상황에서 우리나라는 특허출원 건수가 세계 4위로 양적 성장은 이루었으나, 여전히 특허수익화에 대한 부정적 인식, 해외특허획득에 대한 인식부족, 글로벌 특허분쟁에 있어 방어적 태도 등으로 인하여 지식재산 무역수지가 적자를 기록하고 있다. 지식재산 무역수지의 흑자 전환을 위해서는 R&D 투자로 만들어 낸 지식재산으로 글로벌 시장을 무대로 한 실질적인 수익을 창출해야 하고, 그동안의 특허수익화에 대한 부정적 인식에서 벗어나 선순환적 특허생태계 구축을 위한 특허관리전문회사의 긍정적 역할 제고가 필요하다.
이를 위하여 이 글에서는 국내외에서의 특허관리전문회사의 활동 현황을 비교분석하고, 최신 주요 특허관리전문회사 관련 소송 및 라이선스 사례를 조사하였다. 나아가 특허관리전문회사 활동의 긍정적 효과와 바람직한 비즈니스 모델을 제시하고, 특허관리전문회사가 우리 기업의 특허권 보호, 특허기술 가치창출과 활용 활성화에 긍정적 역할을 수행하도록 하기 위한 제도적･정책적 방안으로 ⅰ) 특허수익화에 대한 인식제고, ⅱ) 국가 R&D 특허활용을 위한 법체계 개선, ⅲ) 중소기업 특허수익화 지원 및 ⅳ) 국내 특허관리전문회사의 육성의 필요성을 제안해 보았다.
우리나라에서도 특허권이 존중되고 특허시장이 활성화되어 글로벌 스탠다드에 맞추어 특허관리전문회사가 활발히 활동할 수 있는 환경이 조성되었을 때, 특허를 활용한 수익을 R&D와 기술개발에 재투자하여 국가 경쟁력 강화에 이바지 할 수 있는 선순환적 특허생태계가 구축될 수 있을 것이다.
In the past, there has been a negative perception of “patent management companies” that generate profits through patent lawsuits or license contracts by purchasing patents without technology development or manufacturing activities due to random patent infringement claims or excessive license fees. However, in the global market, patent management companies that generate profits using patents are active, and are established as a business model in the patent market. Although Korea has achieved quantitative growth in the number of patent applications in the world, the intellectual property trade balance is still in deficit due to negative perceptions of patent monetization, lack of awareness of overseas patent acquisition, and defensive attitudes in global patent disputes. To turn the intellectual property trade balance into a surplus, it is necessary to generate substantial profits based on the global market with intellectual property created by R&D investment, and to improve the positive role of patent management companies to build a virtuous cycle patent ecosystem. To this end, this article compared and analyzed the current status of patent management companies at home and abroad, and investigated the latest lawsuits and licensing cases related to major patent management companies. Furthermore, the following institutional and policy measures were proposed to present positive effects and desirable business models of patent management companies, and to ensure that patent management companies play a positive role in protecting Korean companies' patent rights, creating value and utilizing patent technology. They are the necessity of ⅰ) raising awareness of patent monetization, ⅱ) improving the legal system for the use of national R&D patents, ⅲ) supporting SME patent monetization, and ⅳ) fostering domestic patent management companies. When patent rights are respected and the patent market is activated in Korea, an environment where patent management companies can actively operate in accordance with global standards, a virtuous cycle of patent ecosystem can be established that can contribute to strengthening national competitiveness by reinvesting profits using patents in R&D and technology development.
In the past, there has been a negative perception of “patent management companies” that generate profits through patent lawsuits or license contracts by purchasing patents without technology development or manufacturing activities due to random patent infringement claims or excessive license fees. However, in the global market, patent management companies that generate profits using patents are active, and are established as a business model in the patent market. Although Korea has achieved quantitative growth in the number of patent applications in the world, the intellectual property trade balance is still in deficit due to negative perceptions of patent monetization, lack of awareness of overseas patent acquisition, and defensive attitudes in global patent disputes. To turn the intellectual property trade balance into a surplus, it is necessary to generate substantial profits based on the global market with intellectual property created by R&D investment, and to improve the positive role of patent management companies to build a virtuous cycle patent ecosystem. To this end, this article compared and analyzed the current status of patent management companies at home and abroad, and investigated the latest lawsuits and licensing cases related to major patent management companies. Furthermore, the following institutional and policy measures were proposed to present positive effects and desirable business models of patent management companies, and to ensure that patent management companies play a positive role in protecting Korean companies' patent rights, creating value and utilizing patent technology. They are the necessity of ⅰ) raising awareness of patent monetization, ⅱ) improving the legal system for the use of national R&D patents, ⅲ) supporting SME patent monetization, and ⅳ) fostering domestic patent management companies. When patent rights are respected and the patent market is activated in Korea, an environment where patent management companies can actively operate in accordance with global standards, a virtuous cycle of patent ecosystem can be established that can contribute to strengthening national competitiveness by reinvesting profits using patents in R&D and technology development.