Samsung Electronics Approaches 200,000 Cumulative Patents Milestone

On the 29th, when Samsung Electronics announced its confirmed third-quarter earnings, citizens were passing by in front of the Samsung Electronics PR Center in Seocho-gu, Seoul. Despite the resurgence of the novel coronavirus (COVID-19), Samsung Electronics achieved a record high with third-quarter sales approaching 67 trillion won this year. Operating profit also exceeded 10 trillion won for the first time in two years. The third-quarter operating profit was 12.3533 trillion won, an increase of 58.83% compared to the same period last year. Photo by Kim Hyun-min kimhyun81@

[Asia Economy Reporter Dongwoo Lee] Samsung Electronics' cumulative number of patents is expected to reach a total of 200,000 by the end of this year.

According to Samsung Electronics on the 28th, the company's cumulative patents on a consolidated basis as of the third quarter of this year totaled 194,643, an increase of 8.1% (14,608 patents) compared to the end of last year. This figure includes all patents held by Samsung Electronics and its affiliates such as Samsung Display since the company first registered a patent in the United States in 1984.

The cumulative number of patents by major countries shows the United States with the highest total of 77,016 patents, up 7.3% from the end of last year. This is followed by South Korea with 41,027 patents (11.5%↑), Europe with 36,694 patents (10.9%↑), China with 17,483 patents (5.8%↑), and Japan with 10,022 patents (0.2%↓). Other countries hold a cumulative total of 12,401 patents (4.2%↑).

In particular, the number of patents acquired this year in South Korea and the United States, which are key countries in technological competition, reached 4,974 and 6,321 respectively, totaling 11,295 patents, which is expected to surpass last year's total acquisition of 13,804 patents.

Major patents acquired by Samsung Electronics domestically this year include technologies such as front pop-up camera utilization for foldable phones, video noise minimization technology for 8K image quality improvement, and bespoke replaceable panel door coupling technology.

The industry expects Samsung Electronics to further strengthen intellectual property rights for strategic business products such as future smartphones, smart TVs, and memory semiconductors as global technological competition intensifies. The company has invested a total of 15.9 trillion KRW in research and development (R&D) costs this year alone to massively secure advanced process technologies for system semiconductors.

A Samsung Electronics official said, "We are steadily increasing related technologies for next-generation technology development, including artificial intelligence (AI), 5th generation (5G), 6th generation (6G) mobile communications, and the automotive electronics business," adding, "Through this, we are preventing the proliferation of similar technologies and patents, checking competitors, and further strengthening the patent protection network to secure future new technologies."