According to recently published data from the Korean Intellectual Property Office (KIPO), three technology fields – (i) electric machinery, apparatus, energy (i.e., "secondary batteries"), (ii) semiconductors and (iii) digital communications – showed the most rapid growth in and the highest number of filings during the first half of 2023. This is based on KIPO's statistical analysis of roughly 107,000 patent applications filed during the reviewed period, categorized according to the 35 technical fields from WIPO's IPC and technology concordance table.1
In fact, the growth rate of filings in the above three fields combined (at 13.6%) was more than three times the average growth rate for all patent applications (at 4.1%).
| Technical field | Patent application filings | Growth rate | Growth rate of top 5 filers | |
| 1st half 2022 | 1st half 2023 | |||
| Secondary batteries | 7770 | 8660 | 11.5% | 43.6% |
| Semiconductors | 5699 | 6580 | 15.5% | 37.6% |
| Digital communication | 4438 | 5110 | 15.1% | 39.1% |
| Above 3 fields combined | 17907 | 20350 | 13.6% | |
| All patent applications | 103437 | 107693 | 4.1% | |
Further, the analysis showed that the growth rates for the above three technology fields varied greatly by entity type. Filings by large corporations grew at very high rates of 22 to 38%, while applications by foreigners/foreign entities grew minimally or even decreased.
| Field | Secondary Battery | Semiconductors | Digital Communication | |||
| Filings | Growth rate2 | Filings | Growth rate | Filings | Growth rate | |
| Overall | 8660 | 11.5% | 6580 | 15.5% | 5110 | 15.1% |
| Large enterprises (domestic) | 2803 | 22.3% | 3209 | 33.5% | 2193 | 38.0% |
| Small and midsize enterprises (domestic) | 2256 | 5.7% | 848 | 16.5% | 720 | 4.5% |
| Academia/research institutions | 995 | 31.3% | 395 | 14.8% | 530 | 7.7% |
| Individuals | 672 | 1.4% | 78 | -3.7% | 122 | 25.8% |
| Foreigners/Foreign entities | 1924 | 0.3% | 2046 | -4.5% | 1540 | -1.8% |
| Other (Government, non-profit entities) | 10 | 4 | 5 | |||
Notably, secondary batteries, semiconductors, and digital communications are all fields that have been designated by the Korean government as National Core Technologies with substantial and strategic economic value. Exports of National Core Technologies are strictly regulated on the basis that any leakage of such technologies outside the country may have a detrimental effect on Korea's national security and economic growth. Thus, the above trends collectively may reflect the fierce competition faced by large Korean companies in these fields, and that they are investing heavily in their patent portfolios in order to try to maintain leadership in these cutting edge technologies.
1 The 35 technical fields are based on WIPO's IPC codes as of May 2008.
2 The number of patent applications filed in first half of 2023 compared to the number of patent applications filed in the first half of 2022.
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