1. The number of international patent applications according to PCT by Korean continued to increase over 30 years!
- In the top 5 countries, only South Korea increased the number of PCT international patent applications and maintained 4th place in the world for 4 consecutive years.
- In the number of international trademark applications according to Madrid Protocol, South Korea raised two levels to 9th place in the world, compared to the previous year.
- In the number of international design applications according to Hague Agreement, South Korea ranked 3rd in the world, showing that Samsung Electronics (1st) and LG Electronics (3rd) stood out.
According to KIPO, the number of PCT international patent applications filed by Korean companies in 2023 increased by 1.2% compared to the previous year, ranking 4th in the world for 4 consecutive years.
Based on the statistics from World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), the number of international patent applications (PCT), trademark applications (Madrid) and design applications (Hague) filed by Korean applicants in 2023 all increased, proving Korean companies’ continuous innovation activities.
However, the number of the world’s international patent applications (272,600, ▼1.8% compared to the previous year) decreased for the first time in 14 years, and the number of Madrid trademark applications (64,200, ▼7.0%) decreased by 7.0% compared to the previous year, showing that overall, the use of the international intellectual property application systems decreased.
The number of international patent applications (PCT) filed by South Korea continued to increase over about 30 years since WIPO compiled statistics, and the number of international patent applications filed in 2023 was 22,288 (▲1.2% compared to the previous year), ranking 4th in the world following China, US and Japan. Within the top 5 countries, the numbers of international patent applications filed by China, US, Japan and German, except for South Korea, all decreased.
By a company filing multiple international patent applications (PCT), 3 Korean companies, Samsung Electronics (ranking 2nd, same as the previous year), LG Electronics (6th, ↑3) and LG Energy Solution (17th, same as the previous year), were included in the top 20 applicants, showing that these companies drove the increase in the number of the international patent applications (PCT).
The number of international trademark applications (Madrid) filed by Korean companies in 2023 was 2,090 (▲2.9%, compared to the previous year), jumped two levels compared to the previous year, to rank 9th in the world (↑2).
2 Korean companies, Samsung Electronics (27th) and Hyundai Motor (28th), were included in the top 30 applicants. Especially, Samsung Electronics jumped 21 levels in ranking compared to the previous year, showing its positive activity of filing international trademark applications.
The number of international design applications (Hague) filed by Korean applicants in 2023 was 825 (▲1.0% compared to the previous year), ranking 3rd in the world, the same as the previous year.
3 Korean companies were included in the top 20 applicants. Samsung Electronics placed two levels higher to rank 1st (↑2), LG Electronics rose four levels to rank 3rd (↑4), and Hyundai Motor remarkably jumped nineteen levels to take a leap from 37th to 18th.
To support Korean companies, which have advanced or plan to expand overseas, in securing international intellectual properties, such as international patent applications (PCT), international trademark applications (Madrid), etc., KIPO continues to guide the international applications systems. KIPO also provides Korean companies with IP-related customer services through an overseas IP comprehensive support and an overseas IP center (IP-DESK), etc.
2. KIPO visited a semiconductor industry site!
- KIPO held a meeting to secure patent competitiveness in Hana Micron Inc. (March 19, 2024).
On March 19, 2024, KIPO visited Hana Micron Inc., a semiconductor company, to have a meeting as part of communication in the field of people’s livelihood to strengthen IP competitiveness in the semiconductor industry.
The meeting was prepared to listen to the IP-related suggestions in the Korean semiconductor industry field. KIPO presented the industry of advanced semiconductor package technology and the trends of the relevant patent applications and it also introduced the patent-related policy, the accelerated examination of a patent application in the semiconductor area (effective since November 2022).
For the first time as a major country, KIPO newly established a semiconductor examination bureau dedicate to the semiconductor technology (April 2023) and hired patent examiners in the semiconductor area (March 2023 and January 2024), so that KIPO is working hard to support securing the semiconductor gap.
3. If you want to know about designated goods when filing a trademark application, please look at the manual of goods.
- KIPO provides a manual of announced goods which increased from about 17,000 to about 56,000 goods.
- Major information (such as names, classes, attributes, etc.) of goods is easily available when filing a trademark application.
According to KIPO, the latest commentary on the entire announced goods is provided by expanding and reorganizing the manual of announced goods published at its website. Those to be commented is greatly expanded from previously 17,813 to the total announced names of 56,382, so that it is expected to be helpful for an applicant of a trademark application in selecting the correct designated goods.
This improved manual contains goods’ ▲name and class in Korean and English ▲definition and image ▲attributes (function/usage, shape, material, etc.), making it possible for an applicant to easily find goods when filing a trademark application.
The previous manual of goods simply provided only the definitions of 17,813 goods corresponding to about 30% of the total announced names. Therefore, since it did not reflect the latest goods, it was criticized for having little effectiveness.
In this regard, KIPO expanded the comments on the total announced names of 56,382 and provided information of goods’ definitions, classes, functions, usages and raw materials, to strengthen the details of the content. In case of services, the purpose, form and type of service are described according to the service characteristics, to be referred to by an applicant when selecting which service is proper.
As an improvement of function, a search function, such as “class, key word”, is added to “names of goods” which has been previously used as a search term classification, thereby enhancing efficiency such that an applicant is able to search goods according to his/her convenience.
KIPO has a plan to update ‘2024 new and changed announced names (about 1,400)’ in the second half of this year, by understanding goods’ attributes and transaction status.
4. KIPO published results of surveying companies regarding the ‘disclosure of genetic resources.’
- 9 of 10 Korean bio companies felt burdened by the introduction of the disclosure system of genetic resources.
- A WIPO Diplomatic Conference to be held in Geneva (May 2024) will decide whether to introduce the disclosure of genetic resources.
Ahead of the disclosure of genetic resources to be discussed in the WIPO Diplomatic Conference to be held in Geneva, Switzerland (May 2024), KIPO carried out a survey of Korean bio companies regarding the disclosure of genetic resources (January ~ February 2024) and published the survey results on March 12, 2024.
Genetic resources: among the living things, such as plant, microbial, animal or other origin containing genetic phenomenon (functional units of heredity), genetic resources means genetic material of actual or potential value for utilization or conservation.
【 Disclosure system of origin of genetic resources】
•(Disclosure of origin of genetic resources): when a patent application is filed for an invention using genetic resources, this system is to disclose the origin information of the corresponding genetic resources.
• (Sanctions): when an applicant does not comply the disclosure of origin of genetic resources, sections to cancel or invalidate the corresponding patent (application) are being discussed.
• (Effects of the disclosure of origin of genetic resources): Companies which produce high value-added products using genetic resources of developing countries share revenue from the products with providers of the genetic resources.
※ Example: Roche, a Swiss company which developed Tamiflu, a medicine used to treat influenza, by using the plant, “star anise”, genetic resources of China, shall share part of the sale proceeds of Tamiflu with the provider of Chinese star anise.
<9 of 10 Korean bio companies felt burdened by the disclosure of origin of genetic resources…there are limitations in obtaining information on the origin of genetic resources.>
It appeared that 9 of 10 domestic bio companies responding to the survey felt burdened by the system of disclosing the origin of genetic resources since a domestic company indirectly procures genetic resources through a brokerage company, the brokerage company does not provide the information of the origin or since a domestic company procures genetic resources from a number of countries, there are limitations in obtaining information on the origin.
The companies expressed concerns that the system of disclosing the origin of genetic resources could cause negative impacts, such as a reduction in research and development and a decrease in the number of the relevant patent applications, a delay in patent registration, in addition to royalties depending on sanction levels of the disclosure of origin of genetic resources.
According to the survey, when it is mandatory to disclose the origin of genetic resources, the royalties that Korea companies shall pay to foreign countries due to the use of genetic resources are expected to be about 90 billion Korea Won a year. Further, tens of billions of Korea Won in royalties are expected to be added depending on the ‘sanction levels, such as cancellation of a patent, invalidation of a patent due to the non-compliance of the disclosure of origin of genetic resources’, which will be decided in Switzerland in May.
Meantime, KIPO has tried to find a response plan for our companies by holding a meeting to share the trends relating to the disclosure of origin of genetic resources and to collect opinion from the relevant industries and organizations (August and December 2023).
5. South Korea ranked 1st in the world in the number of patent applications related to screen sports.
- South Korea, which filed 58.4% of the relevant applications over 20 years, led technology development.
- 6 Korean companies ranked in the top 10, Golfzon taking 1st place, SG Golf taking 2nd place, etc.
While the number of screen sports-related patent applications filed in the world over the last 20 years (2002~2021) increased by 7.8% on annual average, it shows that South Korea filed the most applications with 58.4% of the total number of the relevant applications.
As a result of KIPO’s analysis of the screen sports-related patent applications filed in IP5 (KIPO, USPTO, JPO, EPO and CNIPA), the number of these applications increased by an annual average of 7.8% from 49 in 2002 to 203 in 2021, with the market growth, such as screen golf, baseball, etc.
With the screen golf market growth, the number of these applications, which was only 49 in 2002, exceeded an annual average of 200 cases for 3 years, i.e., 220 in 2010, 191 in 2011 and 215 in 2012. Filing the relevant application has been active since 2016 when the Korean screen golf companies, Golfzon, SG Golf fully, etc., grew in earnest.
By nationality of an applicant, South Korea filed the most applications (58.4%, 1,715 cases), followed by US (17.0%, 500), Japan (8.9%, 262), China (6.4%, 188) and Denmark (4.1%, 119).
Upon reviewing the trends of the applications (2002~2021) by detailed technology, 1,536 cases (52.3%) which was more than half of the applications, were related to the peripheral devices, such as ball dispenser, swing mat, etc. 882 (30.0%) were related to content, such as golf, baseball reenactment, etc., 324 (11.0%) were related to sensing, such ball tracking, ball motion sensor, etc., and 196 (6.7%) were related to visualization, such as motion image processing, mini-map providing, etc.
Especially, from the trends of the applications filed over the last 5 years (2017~2021) by detailed technology, the number of the applications relating to sensing (from 94 cases to 177 cases) and visualization (from 60 to 89) increased noticeably, compared to the previous period (2012~2016), This is considered as results of technology development to realize screen sports realistically.
The applicants that filed multiple applications (2002~2021) included Korean companies, Golfzon (15.8%, 463 cases, ranking 1st ) and SG Golf (4.5%, 132, ranking 2nd), followed by a Demark company, TrackMan (4.1%, 119).
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