Hyundai Mobis Aims to Secure 12,000 Global Intellectual Property Rights by 2025

Intensified Patent Competition Among Global Companies
Threefold Increase Compared to Current Scale... Technology Collaboration on Promising Ideas Before Patent Application

[Asia Economy Reporter Yu Je-hoon] Hyundai Mobis plans to secure more than 12,000 global intellectual property rights by 2025. To achieve this, Hyundai Mobis intends to purchase external patents held by renowned domestic universities and research institutions, while also encouraging invention activities among its internal employees to expand its portfolio.

Hyundai Mobis announced on the 9th that it recently signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) for ICT technology cooperation with Yonsei University Industry-Academic Cooperation Foundation at Yonsei University in Seodaemun-gu, Seoul. The signing ceremony was attended by Jung Soo-kyung, Vice President and Head of Planning Division at Hyundai Mobis, and Lee Choong-yong, Director of the Yonsei University Industry-Academic Cooperation Foundation (Research Director).

This agreement focuses on establishing a mid- to long-term research and development cooperation system, including patent purchases related to core future mobility technologies such as autonomous driving, electrification, and connectivity. Specifically, Hyundai Mobis plans to acquire promising technologies held by Yonsei University, including communication standards, artificial intelligence, and battery control technologies.

Furthermore, Hyundai Mobis will engage in technology cooperation for promising ideas at the pre-application stage. This approach is similar to corporate investment in startups, aiming to secure key 4th industrial revolution technologies early that can be developed into foundational patents.

Hyundai Mobis’s move to preempt future technologies comes as the rapid expansion of 5th generation mobile communication (5G) networks and electric vehicles accelerates patent competition with various companies. Hyundai Mobis explains that merely holding related patent portfolios strengthens deterrence against disputes with competitors and other industries. For example, it means the company can collect royalties or use patents as negotiation cards for parts orders.

Accordingly, since 2019, Hyundai Mobis has been operating a dedicated organization to consistently and efficiently respond to intellectual property acquisition and disputes. Centered on its domestic technology research centers, the company encourages researchers to file patents and supports them by deploying patent experts and patent attorneys. As a result, Hyundai Mobis filed about 2,000 domestic and international patents last year. The company’s patent application growth rate over the past three years has reached 50%.

A Hyundai Mobis official stated, "Starting with Yonsei University, we plan to continuously purchase future car patent technologies held by leading domestic universities and research institutions. As the importance of foundational patent technologies in the future car industry increases, our strategy is to not only encourage invention activities among internal employees but also acquire external technologies held by industry-academic cooperation institutions to expand our patent portfolio."

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