Even as external uncertainty grew with the spread of protectionism, domestic patent applications surpassed 260,000 for the first time. Since breaking 200,000 in 2013, the total has increased by more than 60,000 in 12 years.
According to the Ministry of Intellectual Property on the 29th, domestic patent applications totaled 260,797 last year, up 5.9% from the previous year (246,245). Korea is the fourth country to exceed 260,000 patent applications, after Japan (1984), the United States (1999) and China (2008). Korea also recorded the world's fourth-largest number of applications in 2024, following China, the United States and Japan, and is expected to remain at a similar level last year.
By applicant type, overall growth was seen. Individual applications rose 15.0%, the highest growth rate, followed by mid-sized companies (13.7%), large companies (5.6%) and small and medium-sized enterprises (4.6%).
By industry, patent applications related to information and communication technology (ICT), including artificial intelligence (AI) and quantum technology, reached 27,033, up 21.1% from a year earlier. Secondary battery applications also increased 14.4% to 10,624. The Ministry of Intellectual Property said, "An increase in applications was confirmed mainly among large corporations such as LG Energy Solution, Samsung SDI and SK On," and interpreted it as "a result of strengthened efforts to secure rights in core fields amid intensifying technological competition."
Overseas patent filings also increased. Patents filed by our corporations with the five advanced intellectual property offices reached 67,025, up 17.6% from the same period a year earlier (56,989). By country, filings in the United States totaled 32,976, the largest share among overseas filings (49.2%), while filings in China reached 16,621, with the highest growth rate at 72.3%.
The target regions for filings are also expanding. According to World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) Data Center statistics (2024), patent applications are steadily increasing in places such as Vietnam (1,395, up 31.4%), India (3,826, up 14.4%) and Taiwan (3,365, up 8.1%). Considering that Korea's major export destinations (by export value) follow China and the United States, then Vietnam, Taiwan and India, some note that corporations' strategies to secure rights align with the trend of diversifying overseas markets.
Jeong Jae-hwan, director general of intellectual property information at the Ministry of Intellectual Property, said, "It is meaningful that patent applications increased around high-tech industries despite significant economic uncertainty," and added, "We will use the organizational restructuring as an opportunity to strengthen support for securing overseas patents."