Source: KIPO
Date: 2012. 2. 15

- Number of IPR applications increased by 10.1 percent year-on-year -

□ Application Trends
o The number of applications for IP rights in the fourth quarter of 2011 reached 108,994, a 10.1 percent rise year-on-year.
- By type of rights, patents increased by 5.8 percent, trademarks by 22.2 percent, and designs by 8.9 percent.
※ Utility models are steadily decreasing due to the abolition of the first-to-register system and double application system (dropped by 14.4 percent).
o By nationality, Korean and foreign applicants increased by 10.8 percent and 6.0 percent, respectively.
- In the case of patents, applications by Koreans and foreigners increased by 5.4 percent and 7.2 percent, respectively.
- By region, Ulsan recorded the highest rise at 71.1 percent followed by Jeju at 51.5 percent.
- By country, China increased by 48.7 percent followed by Belgium at 22.4 percent.
o By type of applicants, conglomerates and SMEs (small and medium enterprises) increased by 5.4 percent and 4.0 percent, respectively, and Korean and foreign applicants increased by 17.5 percent and 10.4 percent, respectively.
- Applicants with the most striking rate of increase in the fourth quarter were Hyundai Heavy Industries in the case of patents and utility models, SM Entertainment and LG Household and Health Care in trademarks, and Auto Clover in designs.

□ Registration Trends
o The total number of IPR registrations in the fourth quarter of 2011 reached 65,120, a 45.8 rise year-on-year.
- By type of rights, patents rose by 56.4 percent, followed by utility models at 45.7 percent, trademarks at 42.2 percent, and designs at 26.7 percent.
o By nationality, applications by Koreans and foreigners rose by 44.0 percent and 51.2 percent, respectively.
- By region, Ulsan and Daejeon recorded the highest increases at 79.2 percent and 74.7 percent, respectively.
- By country, Canada increased by 42.5 percent and Finland by 41.5 percent.
o By IP rights holders, conglomerates increased by 62.2, SMEs by 38.9 percent, and individual Korean applicants by 51.4 percent. Universities recorded a striking rise of 147.9 percent.
- IP rights holders with the most striking rate of an increase in the fourth quarter of 2011 were LG Innotek and Samsung Electro-Mechanics in patents and utility models, Woongjin Holdings in trademarks, and LG Innotek in designs.

□ Examination and Trial Trends
o The number of requests for examination amounted to 48,045, a 5.6 rise year-on-year.
- Requests for patent examination reached 45,425, a 7.4 percent increase year-on-year, while utility models decreased by 18.4 percent year-on-year with 2,620 cases.
- Requests for international searches under the PCT reached 7,055, a 13.4 percent increase year-on-year, and the number of processed international searches totaled 6,134, recording a 26.1 percent increase.
o The number of requests for trials reached 4,510, a 24.6 percent increase year-on-year and the number of trial disposals reached 3,783, a 10.5 percent increase year-on-year.
- By type of rights, the number of requests made for patents and utility models increased by 33.2 percent with 3,336 cases and trademarks by 14.2 percent with 1,061 cases, while designs dropped by 39.2 percent with 113 cases compared to the previous year.