The Korean Intellectual Property Office on Feb. 14 said the number of applications for international patent cooperation treaties (PCT) filed by Korean companies ranked fourth worldwide for the second consecutive year. Shown here is the headquarters of Samsung Electronics in Seoul's Seocho-gu District. (Yonhap News)
By Park Hye Ri and Kim Hayeon
Korea last year ranked fourth for the second consecutive year in the number of international Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT) applications filed by domestic companies with the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO).
The Korean Intellectual Property Office (KIPO) on Feb. 14 said domestic companies including Samsung Electronics and LG Electronics filed 20,678 PCT applications last year, up 3.2% from the year before.
The PCT system allows one patent application with WIPO to have the same effect as applying in a large number of countries.
Last year saw 277,500 PCT applications filed worldwide, up 0.9%. China held the top spot for the third year in a row with 69,540, followed by the U.S. (59,570) and Japan (50,260). Germany ranked fifth after Korea with 17,322.
By company, Huawei filed 6,952 applications to rank first for the fifth consecutive year since 2017. Two Korean companies -- Samsung Electronics (No. 3) and LG Electronics (No. 4) were in the top 10.
Korea's rate of increase in the number of such applications (3.2%) was the highest among the top five countries (China, U.S., Japan, Korea and Germany).
The number of PCT applications is used to gauge a nation's innovative capacity in the Bloomberg Innovation Index, which Korea topped last year, and the WIPO Global Innovation Index, in which Korea ranked fifth.
Yoon Sei-young, director of KIPO's Trade and Cooperation Division, said, "Despite the hardship caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, Korean corporations are strengthening efforts to secure more patents," adding, "We plan to create a friendly environment and promote policies to help companies protect their core technologies overseas through intellectual property rights."
hrhr@korea.kr
