Increase in 'Intellectual Property Applications' Leading Untact Industry... KIPO Calls It a Positive Sign of Economic Recovery

Korean Intellectual Property Office

[Asia Economy (Daejeon) Reporter Jeong Il-woong] It has been reported that the number of intellectual property (IP) applications increased in the first half of this year compared to the previous year, led by the untact industry sector. This rise in IP applications is also interpreted as an indication of potential economic recovery and growth.

According to the Korean Intellectual Property Office (KIPO) on the 9th, the total number of IP applications in the first half of this year was 253,027, marking a 4.5% increase from the first half of last year.

Looking at the detailed changes by IP type in the first half of this year, patent applications reached 99,336, up 2.1% from the same period last year; trademark applications were 120,833, up 9.4%; while utility models decreased by 16.5% to 2,306, and design applications fell by 3.3% to 30,522. Trademark and patent applications thus drove the overall increase in IP applications.

In particular, the untact industry sector played a key role in boosting the total scale of IP applications in the first half of this year. Temporally, IP application activity had been subdued since March, when the spread of the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) began, but in June, the increase in IP applications in the untact sector helped push the total number of IP applications above that of the same period last year.

In fact, from January to June, patent applications related to untact fields such as online shopping and logistics delivery increased by 27.2% compared to the first half of the previous year. Monthly, after a 15.8% decrease in January compared to the same month last year, all months from February to June recorded double-digit growth rates.

Trademark and design rights also showed remarkable application performance in the untact sector. For example, trademark applications in untact fields such as e-commerce and telecommunications/broadcasting increased by 4,209 (12.5%) compared to the first half of last year. Considering that the total increase in trademark applications during this period was 10,356, the untact sector contributed more than 40% to the overall increase in applications.

Additionally, while the total number of design applications in the first half of this year declined by 3.3% compared to last year, the untact sector?including masks and diagnostic booths?recorded a 42.6% increase.

KIPO emphasizes that the increase in IP applications can be interpreted as a corporate will to create new industries and secure competitive advantages.

Above all, since recent IP activities are centered around the untact industry, it is seen that the domestic industrial sector is already showing active movements to respond to the post-COVID-19 era.

Park Won-joo, Commissioner of KIPO, stated, “The increase in IP application volume is more than just a visible simple indicator; it can also be used as important data to predict the possibility of economic recovery in the domestic industrial sector. Globally, a positive correlation between patent application volume and GDP has been proven, and in Korea as well, a clear positive correlation between domestic patent applications and GDP size has appeared since the 1970s.”

He added, “Currently, at a new turning point caused by the spread of COVID-19, KIPO plans to focus its institutional capabilities to ensure that companies’ active efforts to create intellectual property can directly lead to overcoming the crisis and economic growth.”

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