The Importance of Design Technology Transfer & the Effects of its Development

The 21st century we live in is considered to be 'the Age of Emotion' or 'the 2nd Renaissance'. As the character of each consumer becomes more and more unique, their demands have become more diverse. As a result, consumers tend to prefer their own peculiar design. And so, nowadays, designs that lack competitiveness cannot survive in the market. Design has become an international language that no one person does not understand. However, design can be distinguished as followed when taken a closer look. Design, to the general consumer, is a trend as well as a style that is exposed to the world. However, to corporations, designers and/or policy-makers, design is also a 'technology' that must be protected and transferred by law. Korea, today, ranks as the 4th most powerful country in the registration of Intellectual Property such as patent technology, utility model technology, design technology and so on. However, when compared with advanced countries, Korea still lacks understanding towards the protection and transfer of design technology. There are still design-related persons that argue whether design belongs to the art field or technology field. Nevertheless, Article 2 of the 'Law on Technology Transfer and Promotion of Commercialization' defines 'design' as 'technology'. Nowadays, the Korean technology transfer market is mostly focused on 'patent technology' and 'utility model technology'. And so, little attention is given towards 'design technology transfer'. This study emphasizes the importance of 'design technology transfer' and its far-reaching effects by analyzing the 'design technology transfer' market based on research on the Korean established technology transfer market. The author hopes that this study will further advance the Korean design industry by becoming a stimulant to design-related persons and design policy-makers for the more active design technology transfer market.