Support : Publications : Chronolog Archives : November/December 2001

Derwent World Patents Index Now Extended to Include Abstracts for Korean Data

Derwent Information is pleased to announce the inclusion of abstracts for Korean patent applications (Korean A documents) into its value-added patent information database, the Derwent World Patents Index (Dialog Files 350, 351, 352). Derwent is working with a third party in Korea to be able to offer Korean applications with English language titles and abstracts, for all patent documents published after January 1, 2001.

Each year a large number of Korean patent applications are published by its Intellectual Property Office, the third most prolific patent issuing body. The majority (66%) of Korean patents are domestic filings i.e. inventions filed by Korean companies, with the leading Patent Assignees being Samsung Electronics Co Ltd., Hyundai Electronics Co Ltd.and LG Electronics Inc. In fact, the overwhelming majority (70%) of Korean patents do not have a foreign equivalent and so the Korean document is the only source of this important information. This makes Korean patent information essential for keeping up-to-date with technological developments and for identifying competitor companies and monitoring their activities. 17% of patents filed at the Korean Patent Office are filed by Japanese companies. The principal Japanese assignees are NEC Corporation, Matsushita and Mitsubishi. U.S. companies file 10% of Korean patents, with the top Patent assignees being IBM, Lucent, and 3M.

Patent protection is predominantly being sought in Korea in the areas of semiconductor materials and manufacturing processes; telephone and data transmission systems; broadcasting, radio and line transmission systems; audio/video recording and systems; digital computers and memories, film and hybrid circuits. Figure 1 shows the technology area trends over the past four years.

From the graph it can be seen that significantly more patents in the area of digital computers were patented at the Korean Patent Office in 2000 than in any previous year. In addition, patents in the audio/video recording and systems area and in data recording technology are showing a declining trend.

Korean patent information is now an essential component of any patent portfolio, especially if your interests are in technology areas.

Figure 2 shows a comparison of the volumes of Korean applications, Japanese applications, US granted patents, and applications filed at the European Patent Office and at the World Intellectual Property Organisation, which have been published between 1994 and 2000.

The graph shows the increasing patent volumes published by all of these authorities. In addition, volumes of patent applications published by the Korean Intellectual Property Office over the last 7 years are comparable with the volume of patent applications published by the European Patent Office.

Figure 3 shows a geographical analysis of where patent protection has been sought in these technology fields over the past five years.

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