Korean Companies' 'IP5' Overseas Patent Applications See Largest Increase in 6 Years

[Asia Economy (Daejeon) Reporter Jeong Il-woong] Last year, the growth rate of overseas patent applications by domestic companies recorded the largest increase in the past six years. This indicates that more companies are securing footholds for entering overseas markets based on intellectual property while protecting their technologies and products abroad.

According to the Korean Intellectual Property Office (KIPO) on the 24th, the total number of patent applications filed by domestic companies last year in four of the five major global intellectual property countries (Intellectual Property 5, hereafter IP5)?the United States, China, Europe, and Japan, excluding Korea?was provisionally counted at 66,792. This is a 10.9% increase compared to 2018 (60,186), marking the largest growth since 2014.

Notably, the proportion of patents filed by domestic companies in IP5 member countries among all overseas patent applications reached 88.7%. Since IP5 accounts for about 80% of global patent applications, an increase in high-quality patents filed within IP5 implies that the influence of domestic companies in overseas markets can also grow.

Over the past five years, the growth rates of domestic companies’ IP5 overseas patent applications were 4.37% in 2015 (compared to 2014), 0.64% in 2016, -5.08% in 2017, 0.42% in 2018, and 10.9% in 2019.

Regarding the status of overseas patent applications by IP5 country, the United States accounted for 36,852 applications (55.1%), China 16,019 (23.9%), Europe 8,287 (12.4%), and Japan 5,634 (8.4%), in descending order of application numbers.

Most importantly, the number of patents filed by domestic companies in the United States showed growth rates of 3.98% in 2015 (compared to 2014), -2.26% in 2016, -4.75% in 2017, -4.51% in 2018, and 8.51% in 2019, confirming that the declining trend since 2016 reversed last year.

Last year, not only patent applications but also registrations increased significantly. The total number of IP5 patent registrations by domestic companies last year was provisionally counted at 42,306, an 8.8% increase from 2018 (38,860).

By country, registrations were 21,684 (51.2%) in the United States, 9,437 (22.3%) in China, 7,247 (17.1%) in Europe, and 3,938 (9.3%) in Japan, showing the same ranking order as patent applications and registrations.

KIPO expressed an encouraging stance on the increase in domestic companies’ patent applications and registrations within IP5 last year. It analyzed that companies themselves are placing importance on securing overseas intellectual property rights and actively pursuing overseas market development and technology/product protection through this.

In this regard, Park Won-joo, Commissioner of KIPO, stated, “Currently, as technological competition among countries intensifies to secure future technology supremacy, the efforts of domestic companies to secure overseas intellectual property rights within IP5 will be a key point determining the outcome of patent and industrial wars.”

He added, “KIPO will prioritize supporting domestic companies in securing overseas intellectual property rights so that they can actively enter overseas markets and lead the global market.”

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.