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For 2 years in a row, South Korea has ranked 4th in the world in the number of PCT international applications (News Letter No. 475) |
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KH |
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2022-03-02 |
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4158 |
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1. For 2 years in a row, South Korea has ranked 4th in the world in the number of PCT international applications
- The increase (3.2%) in the number of PCT international applications filed with WIPO in 2021 was highest among the top 5 countries including Japan, China among the others.
- Among the top 10 companies, Korean companies are Samsung Electronics (3rd place) and LG Electronics (4th place).
The Korean Intellectual Property Office (KIPO) published that the number of PCT international patent applications filed with WIPO by Korean companies including Samsung Electronics, LG Electronics, among others in 2021 increased by 32% with 20,678 cases, compared to 2020, ranking the 4th place in the world for 2 years in a row.
Specifically, the increase rate of the PCT international patent applications in comparison with that of 2020 was highest (3.2%) among the top 5 countries (China, US, Japan, South Korea and Germany) despite the difficulties caused by COVID-19.
In contrast, the number of the PCT international patent applications filed by Japan and Germany in 2021 decreased by 0.6% and 6.4%, respectively, compared to the previous year, and the number of the PCT international patent applications filed by China and US increased only by 0.9% and 1.9% respectively.
The number of the PCT international patent applications has been used as a measure to assess each country’s capacity for innovation in the Bloomberg Innovation Index (where South Korea took 1st place in the world in 2021) and WIPO Global Innovation Index (where South Korea took 5th place in the world in 2021).
The number of the PCT international patent applications filed in the world in 2021 was 277,500 with an increase 0.9% compared to the previous year, and China filed 69,540, taking 1st place in the world for 3 years in a row.
The number of the PCT international patent applications filed by China in 2021 increased by 0.9% compared to 2020. The gaps in the number of the PCT international patent applications between China and US taking 2nd place were 1,694 in 2019, 10,446 in 2020 and 9,970 in 2021.
HUAWEI which filed 6,952 patent applications took 1st place in the world in the number of the PCT international patent applications for 5 years in a row from 2017. QUALCOMM taking 2nd place recorded the highest increase rate (80%) in the top 10 companies.
South Korea was confirmed as being a strong country with Samsung Electronics (3rd place) and LG Electronics (4th place) among the top 10 companies in the number of PCT international patent applications.
2. KIPO published and distributed an analysis report on patents of vaccine raw materials and subsidiary materials.
- Analysis of patent information on 16 items of raw and subsidiary materials which localization is necessary
On February 23, 2022, KIPO published an analysis report on patents of vaccine raw materials and subsidiary materials, for companies, research institutes and universities developing raw and subsidiary materials of COVID-19 vaccines. The vaccine raw and subsidiary materials include raw materials, consumables, equipment, etc. to produce vaccines.
This report was prepared to be helpful in setting the direction of vaccine raw and subsidiary materials research and development or establishing response strategies to avoid a core patent, etc., by easily understanding patents on 16 items of core raw and subsidiary materials which are essential to develop and produce vaccines.
In 2021, the patent analysis reports on mRNA (3 types) and non-mRNA (16 types) were published two times. This final report contains the patent analysis results on the core raw and subsidiary materials which are selected for the vaccine technology independence.
As references, manufacturing processes are organized by vaccine platforms, and essential raw and subsidiary materials are organized by processes. Among them, 16 items which need to be localized include the current states of major companies and technology development, the current states of license agreements and patent disputes, and the in-depth analysis results of 228 original and core patents.
Classification of 16 items and major items:
Class. Item
mRNA vaccine raw and subsidiary materials capping reagent, lipid nanoparticle (LNP), NTP, RNA, polymerase, RNase inhibitor 5 types
DNA, viral vector, synthetic antigen raw and subsidiary materials Cell culture medium, bioreactor, immune booster 3 types
Common raw and subsidiary materials DNase I, sterilization filter, disposable culture solution, filter bag, membrane, resin, tubing, 8 types
In addition, this report sorts the raw and subsidiary materials which require avoidance strategies concerning a patent dispute and the raw and subsidiary materials for which risk of a patent dispute is low but need improvement strategies such as price competitiveness, yield improvement, etc., so that researchers are able to easily establish the localization strategies of the vaccine raw and subsidiary materials.
3. Intellectual property (IP) financing exceeded 6 trillion Korea Won, with a new supply of 2.5 trillion Korea Won in 2021.
- Contributing to small and medium companies’ overcoming financial difficulties and expanding businesses during the COVID-19 crisis
[IP investment case] “F”, which is a new startup (venture) company producing an AI-based semiconductor, needed a mass production fund but had a difficulty to get additional funding due to a lack of collateral, such as real estate, etc. Through a patent valuation of an artificial neural network in 2021, this company attracted an investment of 14 billion Korea Won from an investment institution and was selected as a future huge startup company (unicorn company) and succeeded in attracting a follow-up investment (accumulated 80 billion Korea Won).
[IP mortgage loan case] “E”, which is a small/medium company producing an electrolyte product for an electric automobile, needed funds to expand the business since the demand for electric automobiles has expanded. This company secured the business operation funds by borrowing 5.7 billion Korea Won from a bank as collateral for two patents on the manufacturing of electrolyte for a lithium secondary battery in 2021 and was successful listing on KOSDAQ in November 2021. This company has also carried forward the expansion of production facilities.
[IP guarantee case] “Z”, which is a small/medium company producing a quick diagnosis kit, had a situation where it was difficult to obtain an IP secured loan and general guarantee under the business loss due to COVID-19 (2019). In 2021, this company got an IP warranty with respect to two (2) patents on a diagnosis system from a guarantee agency and borrowed 300 million Korea Won from a bank, enabling the purchase of the raw and subsidiary materials, etc. to produce the diagnosis kit products.
According to KIPO, for the first time, the IP financial balance exceeded 6 trillion Korea Won (6,009,000,000,000 Korea Won) and the new supply in 2021 was 2,504,100,000,000 Korea Won, increasing by 21.3% compared to 2,064,000,000,000 Korea Won in 2020.
[IP investment] Notably, the amount of new investments which were directly invested in an excellent IP holding company or IP in 2021 rapidly increased to 608,800,000,000 Korea Won, with an increase of 2.3 times compared to 2020.
The increase of the new IP investment amount is considered as resulting from the expansion of IP investment fund raising through the investment of fund of funds and the activation of the investment to an excellent patent holding company by strengthening the cooperation with venture capital.
As the amount of investment in the patent holding companies in the big three (3) areas including future automobiles, semiconductors and bioengineering (bio) was 55.2% (335,800,000,000 Korea Won), IP investment is evaluated as means of financing of small and medium companies.
The number of the investment institutions taking part in the IP investment increased from 50 in 2020 to 69 in 2021, improving the investment institutions’ recognition on IP investment.
[IP mortgage loan] The new loan amount making loans as collateral for intellectual property in 2021 was 1,050,800,000,000 Korea Won, maintaining about 1 trillion Korea Won as in 2020.
As a result of surveying 1,390 companies getting loans as collateral for intellectual property, the loans to the companies having low credit rating (lower than BB+ rating) were 77.7%, showing that funds were supplied to the companies with low credit rating which owned excellent IP.
[IP guarantee] The new IP guarantee amount that on the basis of IP, Korea companies got guarantees from Korea Credit Guarantee Fund, Technology Guarantee Fund, and Seoul Credit Guarantee Foundation in 2021 was 844,500,000,000 Korea Won, with an increase of 19.1% compared to 2020.
An IP guarantee which is operated by a guarantee agency is used by a startup company having difficulty in using a general warranty or an IP mortgage loan. Additional benefits, such as a preference to guarantee rate (90~100%) and a reduction of guarantee fee (0.2~0.5%p), etc., are available.
4. Cost-effect and characteristic designs captivate golfers in everyday life!
- The number of golf-related design applications increased by 42.7%, compared to 2018~2019 before COVID-19.
The total market size of the golf course industry in South Korea was 7,006,600,000,000 Korea Won in 2020 (increasing by 18.3% compared to 2019) and the golf population was about 5,150,000 (increasing by 9.5% compared to 2019).
According to KIPO, the number of golf-related design applications increased, from 651 in 2016~2017 to 754 in 2018~2019 (with an increase of 15.8%) and to 1,076 in 2020~2021 by an annual average of 13% over the last 6 years. Notably, the number of these design applications filed during the COVID-19 time (2020~2021) increased by 42.7% compared to 2018~2019.
Golf supplies are divided into golf fashion supplies, equipment for basic exercise, and equipment for practice. As the golf demand age group has expanded to young golfers, the number of golf-related design applications has increased, focusing on unique and cost-effective designs which stand out in the fashion supplies and the equipment for basic exercise and focusing on efficiency rather than formal as a daily exercise (sports) in the equipment for practice.
The increase rate in the number of golf fashion supply-related applications filed in the COVID-19 time (2020~2021) was 80.8% which was the biggest.
The number of the golf fashion supply-related applications increased (with 80.8%) compared to the increase in the golf population, showing golfers tendency to enjoy their own individual unique golf fashion (accessories, gloves, golf shoes, bags) as much as scores.
The number of the applications related to the equipment for basic exercise, such as golf balls and golf clubs, etc., increased by 33.2%, which was relatively low but was 51.5% (with 554 applications) of the total number of the golf-related design applications, showing the representative golf-related applications.
Since a putter is able to have a free design in comparison to a driver or an iron, unique designs for putters were filed in the applications. As a golf club stimulates a golfer’s desire to purchase, 119 applications relating to golf clubs were filed, which was the highest proportion (42%) of the total of the club-related applications, 280.
The number of the applications for golf balls was 68 including 30 relating to balls with various shaped lines to help putting, 9 relating to balls with intense colors, 12 relating to balls with characters, which are well seen from a distance
The number of the applications for the equipment for practice to help a golf practice increased by 74.7% over the last 2 years (2020~2021).
The proportion of the applications (145) relating to practice tools which were highly useful was 87% which was higher than the applications (21) relating to expensive screen equipment. Specifically, the applications (53) relating to swing posture correctors and the applications (52) relating to putting practice devices were 63.3% of the total applications (166) relating to the equipment for practice.
This reflects the golfers’ desire to correct a swing posture or to practice putting in an economical way, from time to time, by keeping the equipment for practice close to a living space.
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