Patent and Trademark Applications Reach Record High...SMEs Drive Increase in Application Numbers

Patent (top) and trademark (bottom) application status data by applicant type. Provided by the Korean Intellectual Property Office.

[Asia Economy (Daejeon) Reporter Jeong Il-woong] The growth rate of patent and trademark applications in the third quarter of this year reached an all-time high. Notably, the increase in the number of applications was led by small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), which is worth paying attention to.

According to the Korean Intellectual Property Office (KIPO) on the 19th, a total of 342,687 patent and trademark applications were filed from January to September this year, marking a 9.4% increase compared to the same period last year (313,373). This is the highest figure recorded in the third quarter application status over the past five years.

During the same period, patent applications totaled 155,164, up 3.6% from 149,813 in the previous year, while trademark applications reached 187,554, a 14.7% increase from 163,560 in the previous year.

In particular, KIPO emphasizes the significance of SMEs leading the increase in patent and trademark applications this year. It highlights the clear trend of domestic SMEs quickly responding to the COVID-19 crisis and gaining a competitive edge by taking the lead in the intellectual property market.

For example, SMEs filed 38,406 patent applications in the third quarter, a 10.7% increase from 34,692 in the same period last year. This growth rate is more than double that of large corporations (4.2% increase) and universities/public research institutes (4.7% increase).

In the trademark sector, SMEs filed a total of 62,247 applications, a 24.0% increase from 50,184 in the previous year, showing a significantly higher growth rate compared to large corporations and universities/public research institutes.

Behind the trend of SMEs’ patent and trademark applications is the focus on responding to COVID-19 and the transition to a non-face-to-face economy.

Reflecting this, patent applications showed notable growth rates in the fields of biotechnology (721 applications, 33.5% increase), polymer chemistry (214 applications, 26.6% increase), and medical technology (2,216 applications, 23.5% increase). Additionally, the e-commerce sector, a representative of the non-face-to-face economy, recorded 3,391 applications, showing a 22.7% increase compared to the previous year.

In the trademark application field, Class 10, which includes medical devices, saw 2,761 applications, a 66.2% increase from the previous year, while Class 5, including pharmaceuticals, recorded 4,498 applications, a 45.0% increase. The non-face-to-face sector also saw 7,651 applications in Class 9, which includes audio and video devices related to the rise of personal broadcasting, marking a 36.3% increase from the previous year.

Hyun Sung-hoon, Director of the Information Customer Support Bureau at KIPO, stated, “The increase in patent and trademark applications during the COVID-19 era is interpreted as a positive sign that domestic companies are gaining competitiveness in the global intellectual property market.” He added, “Moreover, the increase and leadership of SMEs in patent and trademark applications are very encouraging.”

He further said, “KIPO plans to continuously develop and implement support policies to help domestic companies secure global intellectual property rights in promising technology fields in the post-COVID-19 era.”

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