The Ministry of Intellectual Property on Jan. 29 said the number of patent applications in the country last year reached 260,000 for the first time. Shown are Samsung SDI's ultra-high-power cylindrical battery SDI 25U-Power, which won a Best Innovation Award at this year's CES, the world's largest exhibition of consumer electronics and information and communications technology that ran from Jan. 6-9 in Las Vegas. (Samsung SDI)

By Lee Dasom

The number of patent applications in the country last year reached 260,000 for the first time, making Korea just the fourth country to reach the milestone after Japan, the U.S. and China.

The Ministry of Intellectual Property on Jan. 29 reported 260,797 applications filed last year, up 5.9% from 2024.

By sector, information and communications technology including artificial intelligence (AI) and quantum technology saw the most applications with 27,033, up 21.1%.

Secondary batteries had 10,624, up 14.4%, mainly driven by large companies like LG Energy Solution, Samsung SDI and SK On.

In addition, the number of patent applications filed abroad by Korean companies also rose. A combined 67,025 were filed between January and September last year in the world's five top intellectual property markets -- Korea, China, Europe, Japan and the U.S. -- up 17.3%.

Most were filed in the U.S. with 32,976 (49.2%). Those in China saw the highest growth of 72.3% to 16,621.

dlektha0319@korea.kr