"Korea Ranks 4th Globally in International Patent Applications... Top Companies Include Samsung and LG"

South Korea has maintained its 4th place ranking for three consecutive years in the number of international patent applications filed under the Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT). Samsung and LG ranked high in the list of companies with the most applications.

The PCT system allows a single application submitted to organizations such as the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) to have the same effect as filing patents in multiple countries.

Provided by the Korean Intellectual Property Office

According to the Korean Intellectual Property Office on the 2nd, South Korea's PCT application ranking rose one spot from 5th place in 2019 to 4th in 2020, and has maintained 4th place for three consecutive years through last year.

The top 10 countries in PCT applications (ranked 1st to 10th) include China, the United States, Japan, South Korea, Germany, France, the United Kingdom, Switzerland, Sweden, and the Netherlands.

Notably, South Korea's PCT application growth rate last year was 6.2%, the highest among the top 10 countries. The growth rate of major countries' PCT applications from 2020 to 2021 was confirmed to be only 0.3%.

In the list of the top 10 companies by PCT applications, South Korea's Samsung Electronics (2nd) and LG Electronics (9th) were included. Samsung Electronics recorded a 44.3% increase in PCT applications last year, the highest growth rate among the top 10 companies.

The number of PCT applications is also used as an indicator to evaluate national innovation capabilities in the Bloomberg Innovation Index (South Korea ranked 1st worldwide in 2021) and the WIPO Global Innovation Index (South Korea ranked 6th worldwide and 1st in Asia last year).

Kim Si-hyung, Director of the Industrial Property Protection Cooperation Bureau at the Korean Intellectual Property Office, said, “The reason South Korea has been able to maintain its 4th place ranking in PCT applications worldwide for three consecutive years is due to the efforts of domestic companies to secure intellectual property rights,” and added, “The Korean Intellectual Property Office will continue to strive to create an international intellectual property environment favorable to domestic companies.”