Korean patents increased by an average of 5% annually over the past 10 years

According to the Korean Intellectual Property Office (KIPO, Commissioner Choi Dong-gyu), an analysis of domestic patent applications related to artificial intelligence using natural language search methods showed that over the past 10 years (2006–2015), a total of 2,638 patent applications were filed, increasing by an average of about 5% per year.

Natural language search is a search method that allows searching at the sentence level, using 'artificial intelligence, machine learning, artificial neural network, deep learning, decision-making' as search terms.

▲ Patent application trends by application year

By year, there was a steady increase from 2010 (212 cases), 2011 (288 cases), 2012 (295 cases), to 2013 (371 cases). After that, it was found that there was a slight decrease in 2014 (367 cases) and 2015 (301 cases).

Focus on research and development in IT fields such as computers and communications

Artificial intelligence technology is a representative convergence technology applicable to almost all industrial sectors. Looking at the patent application status by application industry, research and development was concentrated mainly in IT fields such as computers (64.1%) and telecommunications (9.9%). This was followed by research and development in the fields of precision instruments (6.1%), medical devices (4.6%), and electricity (4.1%). In particular, artificial intelligence technology is being actively used in digital computing, business management, wired and wireless communication, and image data processing.


▲ Patent Application Status by Application Industry

In contrast, patent applications in non-IT fields such as chemistry (0.1%), food (0.1%), clothing (0.1%), and architecture (0.1%) were found to be negligible.

Looking at the rankings for the most applications, Samsung Electronics showed the highest volume of patent applications related to artificial intelligence with 163 cases. It was analyzed that research and development is actively underway in the order of ETRI (129 cases), Qualcomm (86 cases), Microsoft (74 cases), and KAIST (58 cases).

Artificial intelligence-related patents were filed by companies (31%), universities (26%), foreigners (25%), individuals (9%), and research institutes (9%), in that order.


▲ Trends in patent applications by country in the field of artificial intelligence technology in Korea, the U.S., and Japan

Meanwhile, over the past 10 years, 24,054 patents related to artificial intelligence were filed in the United States and 4,208 in Japan, which is 9.1 times and 1.6 times the level of domestic applications (2,638), respectively.

Park Je-hyun, Head of the Computer Systems Examination Division at the Korean Intellectual Property Office, stated, "It is true that patent applications are not yet numerous as domestic artificial intelligence technology has not yet become widespread." He added, "However, given the limitless potential of AI technology, it is necessary to maintain active interest in securing more patents through research and development across various industrial sectors."