Shock and solution of the Pohang earthquake in 2017,
On Nov. 15, 2017, a 5.4 earthquake occurred in Pohang, South Korea. After more than 30 aftershocks occurred, the residents of Pohang trembled with fear and anxiety. There were no deaths from the earthquake, but 92 injured, 1,797 victims, and 66.2 billion Korean won (about USD557 mil.) in property damage occurred. Residents who suffered the earthquake complained of anxiety and demanded countermeasures.
In August last year, Pohang City built an air dome disaster evacuation facility in Heunghae-eup, which has excellent living areas and access to alleviate citizens' anxiety. It was attracted by the fact that the first multi-purpose disaster evacuation facility in Korea, but it became an even more issue by constructing an airdome type that supports the building with air. The airdome has no falling objects such as pillars and subsidiary materials, so it is safe from earthquakes and shakes, and there are no problems with other natural disasters such as typhoons and heavy snow.
 |
| 🔺 broadwellkorea.com |
Raising
an issue with airdome technology,
In
August 2018, Pohang City decided to introduce technology from China's
Broadwell, which had a new technology-patented method related to airdome. A
contract for use of airdome related technology was signed with AboutTech and
Lotus Engineering, which are domestic agencies for related technology, and
construction started. In June this year, an internet news reported that the airdome-related technology applied to the disaster evacuation facility was the utility model,
and can’t be a new technology-patented method. As a result of actual
verification, the related technology was registered as a Chinese utility model,
not a patent. As a result, there are suspicions increasing in the industry
about the agreement between Broadwell and Pohang, which over-promoted the
technology without holding a patent.
 |
| 🔺 broadwellkorea.com |
An utility model right is an intellectual property right one level lower than a patent,
and is a right given when an existing invention is improved or supplemented
rather than a new invention. In short, if a pencil first developed is the
subject of a patent, hexagonal pencils or triangular pencils are the objects of
utility model. Since the properties are similar to patents, the rights are not
significantly different from patents. However, the definition of a patent and a
utility model are different, and a patent can invent an object or a method or idea,
but a utility model must be the substantial invention.
China's
utility model rights are different from those of Korea.
In
Korea, a utility model is granted through the method exam. and substantive exam., but
in China, its right is granted only when the basic requirements for examination is
passed. Therefore, in China, utility model is increasing because it can quickly
acquire rights with little money. However, there are also side effects. Omitting
the examination can quickly acquire rights, but also increases the uncertainty
about the technology. Therefore, even if the rights were acquired in China, the
technology cannot be accepted in other countries.
 |
| 🔺 kipo.go.kr the procedure of the current utility model application system in Korea |
Airdome technology, too attractive to deny
Interest
in airdome technology continues to increase. Recently, the number of earthquakes
occurring in Korea is increasing, and the air purification function, which is
the original function of airdomes, is attractive enough in Korea where the
air is threatened by fine dust. Kyungju, in which had the largest earthquake
recorded in Korea in 2016, also announced in February that it would install a
soccer field using airdome technology. However, controversy is expected
because the soccer field will also use the same
technology as Pohang AirDome. I hope
that the suspicions raised this time will be resolved quickly.
No comments:
Post a Comment