Decrease in Intellectual Property Applications Amid Rising Patent Filings by Large Corporations

This year’s first half saw a notable increase in patent applications centered on large corporations. This is significant as it contrasts with the overall decline in domestic intellectual property applications.

According to the Korean Intellectual Property Office and the Patent Statistics Center of the Korea Intellectual Property Research Institute, the total number of intellectual property applications filed domestically in the first half of this year was approximately 260,000, representing a 1.4% decrease compared to the first half of last year. However, the number of registrations increased by 11.7% to about 181,000.

The decline in intellectual property applications is attributed to the economic downturn, including a drop in GDP growth rate and worsening corporate performance in the first half of this year.

By major rights category, patent applications were the only ones to increase by 4.1%, while design (-5.0%) and trademark (-3.5%) applications both decreased.

On the other hand, trademark registrations recorded a high growth rate of 33.0%, driving the overall increase in registrations.

This is interpreted as the result of trademark applications that had increased and accumulated by more than 10% on average around 2020 being examined and registered in the first half of this year.

The increase in application numbers from large corporations is also a noteworthy point in intellectual property applications for the first half of this year.

In terms of applicant types in the first half of this year, applications from medium-sized enterprises (-3.9%), small and medium enterprises (-3.8%), domestic individuals (-0.4%), and foreigners (-6.3%) generally decreased compared to the first half of last year, whereas large corporations showed a relatively favorable increase of 7.3%. Additionally, the “others” category, which includes universities and public research institutions, saw a 7.8% increase in intellectual property applications.

The increase in intellectual property applications from large corporations is analyzed to be due to their focus on patent applications in new technology fields such as semiconductors, electrical machinery and energy, digital communications, and computer technology (AI), despite the economic downturn.

In particular, among the five major technology fields defined by the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO)?electricity, chemistry, instruments, machinery, and others?the patent application growth rate in the electricity field, which includes many new technology areas, was 4.7%, showing a relatively higher increase compared to other technology fields (chemistry 0.4%, instruments 1.7%, machinery 0.1%, others 1.4%).

Meanwhile, the Patent Statistics Center of the Korea Intellectual Property Research Institute published “Intellectual Property Statistics FOCUS (Issue 22),” which contains these findings. The statistical data, prepared to provide prompt access to key intellectual property statistics, has been made available through the websites of the Korean Intellectual Property Office and the Korea Intellectual Property Research Institute.