Samsung Electronics has the most patents in Korea: KIPO

Samsung Electronics has the most patents in Korea: KIPO

최초입력 2025.05.09 10:00:29

Korea’s first-ever patent was granted in 1909 to independence activist Jeong In-ho for a horsehair hat design. (Korean Intellectual Property Office)

Samsung Electronics Co. was identified as the company with the most patents in South Korea while Amorepacific Corp. holds the most registered trademarks, data showed on Thursday.
In celebration of the 80th anniversary of Korea’s liberation from Japanese colonization and the 60th anniversary of Invention Day, the Korean Intellectual Property Office (KIPO) announced the top registrants of patents and trademarks that have driven the country’s industrial development and technological innovation.
This was based on a comprehensive review of patents and trademarks registered since the enactment of the Patent Act in 1946 and Trademark Act in 1949.
Samsung Electronics ranked first in patents, accounting for 6 percent of entire patents with a total of 134,802 cases. The company has become one of the world’s leading innovators in advanced technologies such as semiconductors and mobile devices since entering the electronics business in 1969, registering 5,255 patents in 2024 alone.
Following Samsung Electronics was LG Electronics Inc., with Hyundai Motor Co., SK hynix Inc., and LG Display Co. rounding out the top five. These companies, which symbolize Korea’s industrialization in semiconductors, electronics, automobiles, and displays, continue to lead in next-generation technologies such as smart appliances, electric vehicles, and high-bandwidth memory. This shows that intellectual property competitiveness is directly linked to industrial strength.
Trademarks also reflect industry trends, and the company with the most registered trademarks is Amorepacific with 16, 514 registrations.
The company, which began as Taepyeongyang in 1945, holds trademarks across various cosmetics brands including Sulwhasoo and HERA. Amorepacific Group also ranked third with 9,357 trademarks, while cosmetics company LG Household & Health Care Ltd. and CJ Corp., which is active in the food and entertainment sectors, took the second and fourth spots respectively.
Even as Korea ranks first globally in patent applications relative to GDP, experts point out that improving the quality of patents is necessary to become a true patent powerhouse. While IP acquisition reflects corporate competitiveness, an overemphasis on quantity can be misleading.
“Although the number of patents is high across companies and the country, we need to assess whether these are high-quality patents,” Lee Kwang-hyung, president of the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST) and chair of the Presidential Council on Intellectual Property, said.
He noted that Korea has a high patent invalidation rate, suggesting that the country may be overly focused on the volume of patents, and emphasized that patents with industrial utility are more valuable.
Lee attributed the high rate of invalid patents to lax examination standards.
“There are too few examiners at the Patent Office and too much work is concentrated,” he said. “This leads to an influx of more patent applications, creating a vicious cycle.”
[ⓒ 매일경제 & mk.co.kr, 무단 전재, 재배포 및 AI학습 이용 금지]

매일경제

Samsung Electronics has the most patents in Korea: KIPO

많이 본 뉴스