SEOUL, Sept. 25 (Xinhua) -- South Korea logged an intellectual property surplus in the first half of this year due to an increased copyright surplus, central bank data showed Wednesday.
Trade in intellectual property rights recorded a surplus of 140 million U.S. dollars in the January-June period, turning around from a deficit of 190 million dollars in the same period of last year, according to the Bank of Korea (BOK).
The surplus in copyright trade expanded to 1.34 billion dollars in the first half from 1.04 billion dollars a year earlier.
Of the copyrights, the surplus in culture and art copyrights grew from 540 million dollars to 650 million dollars in the cited period, while the software, research and development copyrights surplus mounted from 510 million dollars to 690 million dollars.
The deficit in the trade of industrial property rights stood almost unchanged at 1.13 billion dollars in the first half compared to a deficit of 1.12 billion dollars a year earlier.
Among industrial property rights, the deficit in the trade of patent and utility model rights was slightly up from 590 million dollars to 600 million dollars in the cited period, while the trademark and franchise rights deficit added from 530 million dollars to 580 million dollars.
By industry, manufacturers tallied a surplus of 1.66 billion dollars in intellectual property rights trade in the first half, while service companies registered a deficit of 1.62 billion dollars. ■