The Korean Intellectual Property Office (KIPO) announced the results of its analysis of patent application trends related to semiconductor manufacturing technology.
A continuous decrease from 7,583 cases in 2007 to 4,241 cases in 2016.

As industries related to artificial intelligence (AI) and the Internet of Things (IoT) gain prominence, domestic patent application activity in the semiconductor manufacturing technology field, a key technology in these fields, has slowed.

According to the Korean Intellectual Property Office (KIPO), an analysis of patent application trends related to semiconductor manufacturing technology over the past 10 years (2007-2016) revealed that the number of patent applications has continuously decreased from 7,583 in 2007 to 4,241 in 2016.

While the number of patent applications by foreigners has remained at around 2,000 per year during the same period, the number of patent applications by domestic individuals has plummeted to less than half, from 4,928 in 2007 to 1,936 in 2016.

In particular, the number of patent applications by domestic companies decreased from 4,474 in 2007 to 1,585 in 2016, and among them, the number by large corporations decreased significantly from 2,518 in 2007 to 568 in 2016, a decrease of less than 23%.


As of 2014, the ratio of overseas applications to domestic applications in this field for our companies was low at 22% and 8% for large corporations and small and medium-sized enterprises, respectively.

For reference, looking at the patent application ratio by type of semiconductor manufacturing technology in 2016, lithography technology (31%) had the highest share, followed by deposition technology (24%), transfer/support technology (18%), polishing/cutting technology (9%), inspection technology (5%), etching technology (5%), packaging technology (4%), ion implantation technology (3%), and cleaning technology (2%).

The domestic semiconductor industry is compared to major countries. When looking at it, it appears that the patent application rate is relatively high in cleaning technology and transfer and support technology compared to high value-added semiconductor manufacturing technologies such as lithography technology, deposition technology, and etching technology.

Looking at the status of multiple applicants over the past five years, the top applicants were Tokyo Electron (Japan, 1,164 cases), Semath (Korea, 883 cases), Samsung Electronics (Korea, 832 cases), Applied Materials (USA, 679 cases), and Dongwoo Fine-Chem (Korea, 648 cases).

“Considering the expected explosive growth in demand for semiconductors due to the Fourth Industrial Revolution and the enormous economic benefits it will generate, our country needs to strengthen its activities to secure core patents for semiconductor manufacturing technology to improve the current situation and once again solidify its absolute dominance in the semiconductor industry,” said Seung-ho Je, head of the Semiconductor Examination Division at the Korean Intellectual Property Office.