Korea ranks third worldwide in the number of metaverse-related patents. Shown is the metaverse exhibition "Korea World," an exhibition promoting Korean content worldwide and hosted by the Korean Culture and Information Service (KOCIS), an affiliate of the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism that promotes Korean content worldwide. (KOCIS)

By Lee Kyoung Mi

Korea is one of the world's top three countries in metaverse technology.

The Korean Intellectual Property Office (KIPO) on Feb. 5 said the country from 2011-20 had the world's third-largest number of metaverse-related patent applications with 7,808, or 16.2% of the global total, filed with Intellectual Property 5 (IP5), a forum of the world's five largest intellectual property offices.

The world No. 1 was  the U.S. with 17,239 applications (35.9%), followed by China with 14,291 (29.7%).

Microsoft had the most such applications among corporations with 1,437. Among Korean companies, Samsung Electronics was third worldwide with 1,173 and LG Electronics 10th with 661.

By technological sector, content accounted for the most patent applications filed with 47.8%, followed by those for operating systems (43.9%), displays (8.1%) and non-fungible tokens (0.2%).

The number of metaverse-related patent applications grew at a high annual average of 16.1% over the past decade.

The number of applications from 2016-20 was 43,698, nearly three times the 14,983 filed from 2011-15.

Launched in 2007, IP5 seeks patent cooperation among the intellectual property offices of Korea, the U.S., Japan, China and Europe -- five regions that account for a combined 80% of all patent applications worldwide.

"Products and services related to the metaverse are being integrated into everyday life, so this sector's technological development will apparently grow more active," KIPO said. "We will strive to get Korean companies to secure patent competitiveness and preemptively lead the market."

km137426@korea.kr