Patent applications originating from the Republic of Korea at the European Patent Office (EPO) grew by 21% last year, according to the EPO’s Patent Index 2023 published today. This was the highest growth rate among the 20 leading innovating countries, and more than five times the average growth at the EPO (+2.9%). Korean companies and inventors filed 12 575 European patent applications last year, more than double the number of a decade ago (2014: 6 166).
The Republic of Korea is now the fifth largest country in terms of patent filings in Europe after the US, Germany, Japan and China. The EPO received 199 275 patent applications in total in 2023 from around the world, the highest number ever. Some 57% of these came from companies and inventors with headquarters outside Europe, including 6% from the Republic of Korea (see chart Origin of applications) who was largely the driver behind the increase in filings received by the EPO, together with China (+8.8% over 2022).
Boom in Korean innovations in digital and energy technologies
Strong growth in patent applications highlights Korean firms’ investments in strategic high-tech fields. The leading field for European patent applications from the Republic of Korea in 2023 was electrical machinery, apparatus, energy, which grew by 42.9% compared to 2022. In this field, which covers inventions related to clean-energy technologies, including batteries, Korean firm LG was the leading applicant at the EPO in 2023, with Samsung third biggest applicant, joined by SK Group in eighth place. In the ranking of battery technology-related patent applications, these three companies were all in the list of top 5 innovators in Europe.
Digital communication, which covers mobile networks, was the second biggest sector for patent applications coming from the Republic of Korea in 2023, with a 24.6% rise from the previous year. Strong growth was also seen in computer technology (+31.9%) and semiconductors (+27.8%). Audio-visual technology rounded out the top five with 11.9% growth. In addition, telecommunications saw a nearly 50% increase compared to 2022, making it the sector with the highest growth for R. of Korea.
Korean tech firms among EPO’s top applicants
Samsung and LG were No. 2 and 3 in the EPO’s 2023 global top applicant ranking, and together made up two-thirds of all European patent applications originating from the Republic of Korea. Samsung filed 4 760 European patent applications last year, up 58.9% over 2022. LG followed with 3 498 filings. SK Group (305 applications), KT&G Corporation (244) and Hyundai Motor (238) rounded out the top 5.
Solid uptake of new Unitary Patent
Since 1 June 2023, innovators can also benefit from the Unitary Patent system – a new way to enjoy simpler and cheaper patent protection in 17 EU member states, in which a European patent has unitary legal effect and can be enforced or litigated before the new Unified Patent Court. The new system has already proven popular with patent owners: unitary protection was requested for 17.5% of all European patents granted in 2023 (more than 18 300 requests filed), and for 22.3% of those granted in the second half of 2023 after the system was launched. Patentees from Europe (39 EPO member states) had the highest uptake rate at 25.8%, followed by those from the US and China (both 10.9%), Republic of Korea (9.7%) and Japan (4.9%). The top Unitary Patent requestors in 2023 were Johnson & Johnson, Siemens, Qualcomm, Samsung and Ericsson. Of the patentees who have transformed their European patents into Unitary Patents, some two-thirds are European.