In 2020, despite the COVID-19 pandemic, patent applications filed at the Korean Intellectual Property Office (KIPO) relating to 4th Industrial Revolution-related (4IR) technologies increased by 11.2% compared to 2019, much higher than the 3.3% growth rate for all patent applications last year. Among 4IR technologies, artificial intelligence is emerging as a foundational technology for "convergence technologies" in combination with other 4IR technologies. 

According to KIPO's recent report, a total of 20,503 patent applications related to 4IR technologies were filed in 2020, compared to 18,443 such applications in 2019. KIPO's report breaks down 4IR technologies into eight technical fields: artificial intelligence (AI), big data (BD), Internet of Things (IoT), biomarkers, digital healthcare (DH), intelligent robots (IR), autonomous vehicles (AV), and 3D printing.

Out of these fields, artificial intelligence-related filings led with 5,472 applications, followed closely by digital healthcare filings with 5,300 applications, and then autonomous vehicles filings with 4,082 applications. However, the fields showing the largest growth in filings over the previous year were digital healthcare and biomarkers, both of which had 30% more applications than in 2019.

The growth in Korean applications for 4IR technologies was significantly higher than for patent applications overall, which as noted showed only a 3.3% increase. According to KIPO, these higher numbers for 4IR technologies appear to reflect the growing interest and demand for these technologies due to various factors such as the COVID-19 pandemic, the aging of the population, increased use of AI and IoT, etc.

Further, patent application statistics continue to reflect a growing interest in "convergence technologies" or the use of multiple 4IR technologies in a single product, since such filings have shown an annual average increase of 36.7% over the past 10 years. KIPO's report specifically notes that many applications for 4IR technologies involve combining different 4IR technologies, for example, "artificial intelligence and digital healthcare" (500 cases), "artificial intelligence and big data" (239 cases), and "artificial intelligence and the IoT" (220 cases). The report thus indicates that artificial intelligence has become a foundational technology for various 4IR convergence technologies in recent years. 

KIPO's report also shows a notable increase in applications that combine digital healthcare with other 4IR technologies. In particular, applications on utilizing artificial intelligence in the digital healthcare field increased by 79.2% from 2019 to 2020, from 279 to 500 cases, while applications using big data in the digital healthcare field saw an increase of 51.2% over the same period, from 43 to 65 cases.

In the KIPO report, the director of KIPO notes that patent applications related to 4IR technologies have increased by more than 14% annually over the past decade, even despite the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, and foresees continued growth in patent applications for these technical fields in the future. Consequently, KIPO is focused on improving patent examination standards to better handle the increase in applications related to 4IR and convergence technologies.