Jeonbuk National University (JBNU) (President Yang Oh-bong) announced on the 4th that it has been selected as a '2024 Focus University for Training Intellectual Property Specialists,' organized by the Korean Intellectual Property Office and the Korea Invention Promotion Association.

This program supports the training of intellectual property (IP) specialists who drive the sustained growth of national strategic technologies and regional core industries. Through selection, JBNU will receive KRW 4.6 billion in national and matching funds over five years, and, subject to an extension evaluation, may receive up to approximately KRW 10.2 billion over a maximum of ten years to develop professionals in the IP field.

To train IP specialists, JBNU will establish the Project Group for Training Intellectual Property Specialists (Director: Professor Song Cheol-gyu). It plans to convert the IP education that has been fragmented across the campus into systematic education and practical training covering all aspects of intellectual property in engineering, law, business, and design.

It will also introduce interdisciplinary majors at the undergraduate level and master's and doctoral programs at the graduate level. Through general education and micro-credential courses at the shared university, JBNU will cultivate sustainable core talent in IP creation, protection, and rights acquisition.

In particular, JBNU plans to maximize the project's effects by linking it with the Glocal University 30 Project and the LINC 3.0 Project Group's Global PBL (Problem Based Learning) programs. For the IT field, programs will be conducted with Silicon Valley companies such as Google. For the bio and Fourth Industrial Revolution fields, JBNU will carry out online and offline programs with world-leading bio-cluster universities, research institutes, and companies, including Harvard University and MIT.

To drive continuous corporate growth, JBNU will provide in-service training that combines the JBNU LINC 3.0 Project Group's flagship initiative, 'New Technology Certification/New Technology Product Certification (NET/NEP) project consulting,' with IP analysis services (blocking patents, foundational patents, standard-essential patents, etc.). It will also strengthen collaboration by linking with regional innovation platforms.

Professor Song Cheol-gyu, Director of the JBNU Project Group for Training Intellectual Property Specialists, said, 'To support the success of the Glocal University 30 Project and the RISE framework, JBNU will begin specialized education programs in the second semester of this year focused on Jeonbuk's key industries—bio-agro-life sciences, AI/semiconductors, and energy. We will undertake robust IP-based technology commercialization projects with industry partners to ensure that JBNU becomes a leading incubator of IP-based R&BD education in Korea.'