Date: March 16, 2026

Only 51.9% of member companies have applied for one or more intellectual property rights. A seminar aimed at raising awareness of intellectual property and promoting its active use was held on March 6 (Friday).

Recently, as the importance of securing intellectual property (IP) in the mold industry has increased, analysis suggests that the need for small and medium-sized mold enterprises to expand their IP applications is rising.

According to an analysis of the IP application status of member companies conducted by the Intelligent Manufacturing Examination Team of the Intellectual Property Office (IPO), only 51.9% of member companies have applied for one or more IP rights. Compared with other manufacturing industries, the level of IP protection in the mold industry remains significantly insufficient.

From the perspective of company size, patent applications are mostly concentrated among large enterprises, while applications from small and medium-sized mold companies remain relatively limited. The analysis attributes this to the fact that, compared with larger firms, SMEs have relatively less capacity for technology development and patent strategy formulation. Additionally, mold technology has traditionally been managed more as part of the production process rather than as independent intellectual property, a characteristic inherent to the industry's structure. However, as mold technology becomes increasingly advanced and its organic integration with product manufacturing technologies grows stronger, the need for technology protection and IP rights conversion has become more essential.

Furthermore, on March 6, a seminar aimed at revitalizing IP activity in the mold industry was held at Silla Engineering, attended by Chairman Shin Moon-soo of the association and examination officers from the IPO's Intelligent Manufacturing Examination Team.

Chairman Shin Moon-soo remarked, "Recently, mold technology has been rapidly shifting toward smart manufacturing and process data-based technologies, and the importance of patents has become more prominent." However, he noted, "Due to the mold industry's OEM-based production structure and its technology being primarily know-how driven, there are challenges in securing IP rights, such as unclear ownership of patent rights or many companies managing their technologies as trade secrets."

In this regard, the association previously collaborated with the Fair Trade Commission in 2021 to draft the Standard Subcontract Contract for Molds, which clarifies the ownership of mold design technology rights in order to protect them and prevent technology theft.

In response, the Intellectual Property Office stated that continued cooperation with the association is necessary to raise IP awareness within the mold industry. In particular, it plans to maintain ongoing communication with the industry by leveraging the IPO’s support systems, such as expanding IP promotion and education programs targeting employees of association member companies.

In addition, in response to the association's request to expand the scale of awards, the Intellectual Property Office has decided to increase the number of IPO Commissioner's Awards presented on "Mold Day" from two to three. This aims to encourage IP-generating activities in the mold sector and strengthen IP competitiveness on the industry floor.