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MOIP has newly established a super-fast examination track to create a startup boom.(News Letter No. 572) |
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KH |
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2026-03-16 |
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300 |
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1. MOIP has newly established a super-fast examination track to create a startup boom.
- Early-stage companies in AI and advanced biotechnology startups are able to receive results of patent examination within 1 month.
Starting February 23, 2026, MOIP established a track for super-fast examination to support the early-stage companies in the AI and advanced biotechnology startups. Since it is possible to secure results of patent examination within 1 month, the speed of market entry by a startup early-stage company is expected to be even faster.
MOIP support fully, without barriers between ministries, the startup companies participating in the overseas market expansion support program for startups of the Ministry of SMEs and Startups by granting to those companies the application eligibility for super-fast examination to promote exports. The scope of accelerated examination is expanded to prospective startups using the technologies owned by universities and public institutions so that those technologies can be used without letting them go to waste.
Since first results of super-fast examination can be provided within 1 month and those of accelerated examination can be provided within 2 months, the period for waiting examination to secure a patent right can be significantly shortened compared to general examination which takes an average of 14.7 months.
< Comparison of general examination, accelerated examination and super-fast examination>
Examination period and annually limited number of cases by type of examination
General examination Accelerated examination Super-fast examination
Examination waiting period 14.7 months 2.1 months 1 month
Interim document processing period (when submitting an amendment) 6 months 2 months 1 month
Annually limited number of cases No limit No limit (’25) 1,000 cases (2025) → 8,000 cases* (2026)
* [Implemented on October 15, 2025]: ① export promotion: 2000 cases, ② overseas expansion + high-tech: 2000 cases; [Implemented on February 23, 2026]: ③ startup early-stage companies + AI: 2000 cases, and ④ startup early-stage companies + advanced biotechnology: 2,000 cases
The biggest change is that a super-fast examination track for startup early-stage companies is newly established. The target for a super-fast examination is applications of startup early-stage companies, venture companies and inno-biz (innovation + business) companies in the AI and advanced biotechnology fields where the technology changes quickly and the potential for technology-based growth is great. Super-fast examination is annually provided to 2,000 applications in each of these two technology fields, thereby significantly shortening the period for waiting examination of the applications of the AI and biotechnology startup early-stage companies, to support the startup early-stage companies in rapidly securing rights and the startup boom.
Since the previous system required specific export performance, there was limit for a startup early-stage company to use the system. In this regard, the target of super-fast examination is expanded to even a startup early-stage company with no export performance if the company has participating in the Ministry of SMEs and Startups’ program to support startups in overseas market expansion. Accordingly, a startup early-stage company which is promoting overseas expansion is expected to be able to use the super-fast examination more easily.
Support for prospective startups is also strengthened. The technologies owned by universities and public institutions have not been recognized as commercial implementations so far, so there have been limitations in using accelerated examination. Through this system improvement, accelerated examination can be requested for the pre-startup in which universities and public institutions participate and the pre-startup by affiliated professors and researchers, etc. Therefore, startups using the universities’ and public institutions’ technologies are expected to be active.
2. South Korea ranks 1st in the world for ‘micro LED transfer technology’.
- LG Electronics ranked 1st, Samsung Electronics 2nd and LG Display 3rd, etc. in the world, showing Korean companies stand out.
In the micro LED display transfer technology field, South Korea has filed the most patent applications.
MOIP analyzed the trends of patent applications relating to the micro LED display transfer technology, which were filed with IP5 (MOIP, USPTO, CNIPA, EPO and JPO) over the last 20 years (2004~2023). As a result, South Korea ranked 1st with 2,022 cases.
[Micro LED transfer technology]
Since Micro LED displays have outstanding performance, durability and flexibility compared to OLED and LCD, they are attracting attention as a dream display which can be applied not only to TVs and tablets but also to wearable devices, such as AR (augmented reality) and VR (virtual reality).
The micro LED transfer technology is a technology to accurately place tens of millions of micro LEDs on a substrate. According to a market research company, the number of micro LED display application products is estimated to reach a compound annual growth rate of 55.4% from about 30,000 in 2024 to about 440,000 in 2030. This year, TV sales is expected to account for the largest proportion in the micro LED display market.
The number of patent applications in the micro LED transfer technology field, which were filed with IP5 over the last 20 years (2004~2023) totaled 4,813. By applicant nationality, South Korea with 2,022 applications was 1st in the world, followed by China with 1,107, the US with 739, Japan with 295, and Europe with 272.
As major applicants, LG Electronics (648 applications) ranked 1st and Samsung Electronics (503) was 2nd. In addition, LG Display (147) was 3rd, Samsung Display (132) was 5th and Point Engineering (124) was 6th, showing that 5 Korean companies are standing out by being named among the world’s top 10 companies filing the most applications.
The detailed technologies of the micro LED display transfer technology include: ▲ laser irradiation method, ▲ electromagnetic force method, ▲ fluid magnetic assembly method, and ▲stamping method, etc. By detailed technology, the laser irradiation method was for 1,639 cases, electromagnetic force method was for 378, fluid magnetic assembly method was for 1,071 and stamping method, etc. was for 1,725.
The survey found that Korean companies had the upper hand in patent applications in each detailed method. In the laser irradiation method, LG Electronics ranked 1st in the number of applications, and in the electromagnetic force method, LG Display ranked 1st. In the fluid magnetic assembly method, Samsung Electronics ranked 1st and in the stamping method, LG Electronics ranked 1st in the number of the relevant applications.
3. South Korea ranked 2nd in terms of the increase rate in the number of applications relating to all-solid-state batteries, and 4 Korean applicants were included in the top 10 applicants.
- Samsung SDI and LG Energy Solution ranked 1st and 2nd in the world, respectively, in terms of the increase rate in the number of the relevant patent applications filed over the last 3 years.
- Among the top 10 applicants, the 4 Korean companies including LG Energy Solution, Samsung Electronics, Samsung SDI and Hyundai Motor were included.
In the field of all-solid-state batteries which are in the spotlight as a next-generation battery since they have a lower fire risk and a higher energy density, the number of patent applications filed by Korean applicants increased from 45 in 2004 to 1,044 in 2023, with an annual average of 18%, recording the second highest increase rate in the world following China (33.6%). In addition, Samsung SDI and LG Energy Solution ranked 1st and 2nd among all applicants, respectively, in terms of the increase rate in the number of the patent applications over the last 3 years, and 4 Korean companies were included in the top 10 applicants.
According to MOIP, the number of the patent applications relating to all-solid-state batteries, which were filed IP5 (MOIP, USPTO, CNIPA, EPO and JPO) over the last 20 years (2004~2023), increased from 331 in 2004 to 3,938 in 2023, showing an annual average increase rate of 13.9%.
The all-solid-state batteries is a next-generation battery which reduces fire risk and increases energy density by replacing previous flammable liquid electrolytes with non-flammable solid electrolytes. While the battery market for electric vehicles is sluggish due to the temporary stagnation in demand for electric vehicles, the expectation for commercialization of all-solid-state batteries is growing as humanoid robots emerge as a new market demand source in the battery market. Recently, the development speed of all-solid-state batteries is expected to be accelerated by the innovation of the physical AI technology and robot technology.
The all-solid-state battery market is expected to grow at an annual average of 180% from $27.5 million in 2022 and to reach $40 billion by 2030. The government also plans to establish a ‘2035 secondary battery industry technology implementation plan’ within the year and invest 280 billion Korea Won in technological development to preempt the next-generation battery technology. Domestic and foreign battery companies also set the time for commercialization of all-solid-state batteries to approximately 2027~2030 and are accelerating the technological development of all-solid-state batteries.
By applicant nationality, South Korea with 5,770 application was 3rd, following Japan with 9,881 and China with 6,749 and followed by the US with 4,417 and Europe with 2,173. In terms of an increase rate in the number of the applications, South Korea with an annual average increase rate of 18% was 2nd, following China with 33.6% and followed by the US with 12.3%, Japan with 8.6% and Europe with 7.8%.
By ranking the applicants filing the most applications, Toyota (2,337 applications) was 1st, and as Korean companies, LG Energy Solution (2,136) was 2nd, Samsung Electronics (724) 4th, Samsung SDI (706) 5th and Hyundai Motor (539) 6th, so the 4 Korean companies were included in the top 10 applicants.
Notably, based on the last 3 years (2021~2023), Samsung SDI (51.7%) was 1st and LG Energy Solution (50.8%) was 2nd in terms of an annual average increase rate in the number of the relevant patent applications, indicating that Korean companies are considered to lead R&D and patent applications to commercialize the all-solid-state batteries.
Since 9 companies were included in the top 10 applicants, it is confirmed that the competition for technological supremacy has continued among the global companies to dominate the all-solid-state batteries.
4. MOIP held a meeting for K-beauty export companies.
- The meeting was to listen to the real-time on-site opinions with the people and conducted live on YouTube.
- Counterfeiting is to be prevented and competitiveness is to be increased.
The Minister of MOIP held an intellectual property meeting for K-beauty export companies, discussing how to respond to the counterfeit products of K-beauty and the unauthorized preemption of overseas trademarks.
This meeting was arranged to respond to brand infringement problems according to the expansion of overseas demand for K-beauty products and to find out difficulties and policy needs in the field.
Recently the distribution of counterfeit products of K-beauty has spread around overseas online platforms and local distribution networks, and the problems, such as consumer safety threats and brand trust declines, have continued. Notably, concerns are growing about unverified and low-quality products which are threatening the health of overseas consumers and acting as a factor hindering Korean companies’ entry into overseas markets.
In this regard, together with the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety (MFDS) and Korea Customs Service (KCS), MOIP planned to share the distribution status of overseas counterfeit products of major companies representing K-beauty and to collect various opinions, such as difficulties in responding to the overseas counterfeit products, policy suggestions, etc. This meeting was broadcast live on the MOIP’s official YouTube channel so that the relevant industry workers and any interested citizen could participate and share opinions in real time.
MOIP as the governing ministry for intellectual property has been promoting local initial responses, such as ▲ support for blocking overseas online counterfeit products, ▲ support for customized response strategies, such as invalidation trials, administrative crackdowns, etc., ▲ legal advice through the overseas IP center, IP-desk, (10 locations in 8 countries), etc. MOIP is continuing to strengthen the public-private cooperation system through ▲ education through ‘intellectual property dispute doctor’, ▲ cooperation between all ministries and agencies, such as the Ministry of Agriculture and Food and the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety, etc., and ▲ operation of the ‘public-private council for K-brand protection’, etc.
5. The number of patent applications in January 2026 increased by 45.2% compared to the previous same period and the number of trademark applications increased by 39.5%.
The number of Korean applications for intellectual property rights achieved the highest record in January 2026 despite the difficult external environment with the global economic slowdown and the continued US tariff policy, etc.
According to MOIP, the number of applications for intellectual property rights in January 2026 was 56,458, increasing by about 39% compared to January 2025 with 40,679 and reaching the highest number of the applications filed in January in history.
The number of the applications includes 23,365 patent applications (▲45.2%), 28,085 trademark applications (▲39.5%), 4,773 design applications (▲10.9%), and 235 utility model applications (▲50.6%).
This is considered as the result of Korean companies and individual applicants, etc. recognizing that the rights of creative ideas are a key asset for securing competitiveness and taking preemptive steps to secure intellectual property rights.
The number of Korean patent applications as of January 2026 was 23,365 with an increase of 45.2% compared to January 2025 (16,092), recording the highest number as of January. The number of each of trademark applications (28,085) and design applications (4,773) increased by about 39.5% and 10.9%, respectively, compared to January 2025.
Even considering the base effect of a temporary decrease in the number of applications due to the Lunar New Year holiday in January this year, such unusual high increase rates are analyzed as the results that major companies filing many applications have continued to file applications and the number of the applications filed by individual and small and medium companies has increased according to the activation of small-scale startups.
As for trademark applications, the number thereof is considered as having increased thanks to the active activities of preemptively securing trademark rights with business promotion and investment attraction in mind, focusing on small businesses and startups.
Upon reviewing the status of applications by applicant type, patent applications showed a strong increase mainly by individuals and small and medium companies. Notably, the number of patent applications filed by individuals in January 2026 was 5,478, exceeding the number of patent applications filed in December 2025 (5,067 applications) and recording high on a monthly basis. This is an increase of about 3 times or more (increase rate of 210%) compared to January 2025 (1,766 applications). Further, the number of patent applications filed by small and medium companies was 5,758, showing an increase of about 50% compared to January 2025 (3,850 applications).
This increase in the number of the patent applications filed by individuals is considered as an impact according to a significant increase in the number of those applications as one-person startups has been activated mainly in the information and communications technology and information service industry fields, taking the spread of AI technology, such as ChatGPT, etc., as an opportunity.
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Korean Industrial Insight No. 22 of AI, Semiconductors, Batteries, Electric vehicles, and Bio
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