Statistical Analysis of Domestic Intellectual Property in 2023
By Seong Tahk AHN and Sungmin CHO
We have analyzed domestic intellectual property application statistics and Intellectual Property Trial and Appeal Board (IPTAB) trial statistics for 2023 based on the intellectual property (IP) statistics published by the Korean Intellectual Property Office (KIPO) in January 2024. The number of intellectual property applications filed with the KIPO in 2023 is similar to that of 2022, albeit with a slight decrease in applications by foreign applicants. The cases of the IPTAB, meanwhile, increased compared to the previous year. From the 2022 Annual Report on Intellectual Property Protection Enforcement in Korea published in December 2023 by the Presidential Council on Intellectual Property, we have extracted the statistics regarding revocation actions of IPTAB decisions and civil/criminal litigations for injunction against infringement. The proportion of cases where an IPTAB decision was revoked at the IP High Court in 2022 is similar to that of 2021, and the number of appeals to the Supreme Court against the IP High Court's decisions has been decreasing over the past five years. Regarding infringement injunction litigations, cases based on design rights increased significantly compared to 2021. This will be explored in further detail below.
1. Overall Intellectual Property Application Trends
The total number of IP applications, including applications for patents, utility models, designs, and trademarks in 2023 is 556,600 - similar to the 556,436 of 2022 - and represents an increase of 0.03%. Specifically, the number of patent applications increased by 2,4%, while there were decreases in the number of applications for utility models (11,0%), designs (2,3%), and trademarks (1.5%).
When dividing domestic IP applications into applications by Korean applicants (Korean applications) and those by foreign applicants (foreigner applications), it can be observed that foreigner application cases decreased slightly from 90,157 (16,2%) in 2022 to 85,825 (15,4%) in 2023, while Korean application cases increased slightly from 466,279 (83,8% ) to 470,775 (84,6%). In 2023, the proportion of foreigner patent applications was 21,4%, with about 10% to 13% in other IP applications, as shown in the chart below.
To analyze domestic applications by foreign applicant's nationality, American applications (29,5%), Japanese applications (20.1%), and Chinese applications (16,5%) account for the top ranks. In 2023, there was no significant change in the number of applications by Japanese and other countries' applicants compared to the previous year, with a slight increase in the number of Swiss applications and a slight decrease in the number of applications from other nationalities.
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