Due to the impact of COVID-19, the non-face-to-face market is becoming more active and the number of unmanned stores is increasing. Despite the lifting of social distancing, competition is intensifying in the unmanned market, which is expected to continue to form due to the effects of accelerated technological development and rising labor costs. While large companies are seeking to enter the market, small and medium-sized venture companies are standing out and moving to secure patents.

According to the Korean Intellectual Property Office, patent applications related to unmanned terminals (kiosks) have been steadily increasing at an annual average of 16% over the past 10 years, and have increased sharply since 2018.
The number of patent applications, which was around 40-50 before 2018, increased significantly to 111 in 2018, exceeded 169 in 2019, and recorded 228 in 2020, the highest number compared to the past 20 years. Although it decreased slightly to 176 last year, it still showed a high number of patent applications.

Looking at the latest technology application trends introduced in kiosks, it was found that short-range wireless communication technology, which enables payments through the transmission and reception of information with mobile devices, accounted for the largest number of applications with 266 cases. Next, there were 66 cases of artificial intelligence technologies for recognizing users' faces or voices or for managing inventory, and 56 cases of biometric identification and authentication technologies such as irises and fingerprints.

In terms of the application ratio by applicant type, small and medium-sized enterprises were found to be leading patent applications, accounting for more than half of the total. Individuals followed with 26%, large corporations with 10%, universities with 4%, government with 2%, and others with 4%.

Among the small and medium-sized enterprises that lead patent applications, small businesses were the main ones at 52%, followed by venture businesses at 34%. The domestic ranking of multiple applicants was as follows: Biz Model Line with 26 cases, Hyosung TNS with 17 cases, Samsung Electronics with 14 cases, Hanasis with 11 cases, and IP.net with 11 cases.

The kiosk market is used in various fields such as banking, documents and tickets, retail, check-in, information guidance, and authentication, and is also an industry with a bright market outlook.

According to a self-service kiosk market survey by market research firm Fact.MR, “the unmanned terminal market is expected to gain a market value of $28 billion this year and is expected to reach a value of $79.5 billion by 2032.”

In addition, the unmanned terminal market currently accounts for 55% of the market share in retail stores such as supermarkets and restaurants, and it is expected that more automated systems will be seen in small stores in the future.

Park Jae-woo, an examiner at the Patent Office’s Control and Mechanism Examination Division, said, “As large companies enter the unmanned terminal market, competition for key technology development and patent acquisition is expected to intensify,” adding, “It is important for our companies to secure strong intellectual property rights in order to utilize the unmanned terminal market as an opportunity to create new revenue streams.”