Rapid Increase in Patent Applications Related to Rollable Touchscreens

Example of a smartphone with a rollable touchscreen. Provided by the Korean Intellectual Property Office.

[Asia Economy (Daejeon) Reporter Jeong Il-woong] The number of patent applications related to rollable touchscreens is rapidly increasing. A rollable touchscreen refers to an input device with a screen that can be rolled up or unfolded like a scroll, allowing commands to be issued to the device by touch with a finger or pen.

According to the Korean Intellectual Property Office on the 16th, a total of 153 patents related to rollable touchscreens were filed from 2012 to 2019. By year, the number of applications was minimal, with 3 in 2012, 6 in 2013, and 3 in 2014. However, the number increased to 15 in 2015, 20 in 2016, 22 in 2017, 29 in 2018, and 35 last year, showing a sharp rise in related patent applications.

By detailed technical fields, patent applications related to touch detection sensors, such as touch actuation, sensing methods, and structures, accounted for the largest share with 58 cases (38%). This was followed by 39 applications (25%) related to processing such as noise removal and correction of touch data, 26 applications (17%) related to interfaces, 15 applications (10%) related to housing, 9 applications (6%) related to touch layer protection, and 6 applications (4%) related to touch substrate materials.

By applicant status, large corporations accounted for 76% of the total, small and medium enterprises 12%, university research institutes 4.5%, individuals 4.5%, and foreign companies 3% in order of the number of applications.

The Korean Intellectual Property Office noted that large corporations such as Samsung Electronics and LG Electronics, preparing to launch rollable smartphones, are focusing on research and development of rollable touchscreen technology, leading to a trend where large corporations dominate patent applications in this field.

In fact, among the top applicants by number of filings, Samsung Display filed 38 cases, LG Electronics 37 cases, Samsung Electronics 20 cases, and LG Display 17 cases, occupying the top four positions.

Park Je-hyun, head of the Computer Examination Division at the Korean Intellectual Property Office, said, “Although the domestic and international economic conditions have worsened due to the impact of COVID-19, rollable touchscreens are forming a new market, and patent competition within the industry is intensifying. Reflecting this atmosphere, it is more important than anything else for domestic companies to proactively secure intellectual property rights in this field to strengthen their leadership in rollable touchscreen-related technologies.”

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