The KIPO recently released their statistics on IP applications (i.e., patent, utility model, design, and trademark applications) filed or handled in 2020. The notable figures thereof are summarized below.

▶Number of Filings in 2020

The total number of IP applications filed with the KIPO in 2020 was 557,256, an increase of 9.1% over 2019. Utility models were the only type of IP rights that saw a drop in the number of filings.

 <Number of IP applications filed in 2020>

Around 85.8% of the IP applications were filed by Korean applicants while 14.2% were fi led by foreign entities, with the top five foreign nationalities being: United States (21,303), Japan (17,906), China (12,549), Germany (5,577) and France (2,753). 

As usual, Samsung Electronics continued to be the biggest patent filer (7,446 applications) among both domestic and foreign filers, and the top five foreign patent applicants were Tokyo Electron (TEL) (623), TSMC (603), Japan Semiconductor Energy Laboratory (SEL) (527), Oppo (509) and Huawei (505).

▶Patent Applications Examined in 2020

In total, 223,842 requests for substantive patent examination were made in 2020, and the KIPO issued 170,299 preliminary rejections and 47,331 final rejections, while allowing 137,711 applications during the same period. The allowance ratio of patent cases was 72.2%.

There was a significant increase in the number of requests for substantive examination compared with that made in 2019 (183,816). This increase was primarily a result of the change in the deferral period for requesting substantive examination from five (5) years to three (3) years from the (international) filing date. (For patent applications filed before March 1, 2017, the deferral period is five (5) years.) It is noteworthy that over the past 5 years, the allowance ratio has increased every year, from 60.0% in 2016 to a level exceeding 72% in 2020.

▶Number of Patent Trial Cases in 2020

3,132 trial petitions were brought before the Board of Trials in 2020. Among them, 2,064 petitions were lodged by domestic entities and 1,068 by foreign parties; and 757 were for inter partes cases and 2,375 were ex parte cases.  

In 2020, 2,110 cases with final rejections were appealed to the Board. Among 3,140 cases handled by the Board in 2020, 23 cases were allowed through the mandatory reexamination by the original Examiner and 1,221 cases were allowed or remanded to the Examination Bureau for reexamination after review by the Board.

As for patent invalidation trials, the Board rendered decisions in favor of petitioners for 185 cases, while rejecting or dismissing the petitions for 209 cases.

▶Number of Ex Parte Appeal Cases Reviewed by Patent Court in 2020

Among the 2,039 decisions for ex parte patent cases rendered by the Board of Trials in 2020, only 115 cases (5.6%) were appealed before the Patent Court.

The Patent Court also reviewed 140 ex parte appeal cases during 2020, ruling 24 cases in favor of plaintiffs and 96 cases in favor of defendants. The average amount of time from the date of filing an appeal until the rendering of a decision thereon by the Patent Court was around eight (8) months.