[Patent Talk] Making 2021 a Turning Point for the Qualitative Growth of Patents...

This column by patent attorney Taeyoung Lee of our firm was published in Etoday on January 4, 2021.

[Patent Talk] Making 2021 a Turning Point for the Qualitative Growth of Patents...

Although 2020 was a year of great economic hardship due to COVID-19, patent filings are estimated to have increased slightly over 2019. As of the end of November last year, 202,704 patent applications had been filed, up about 2.3% from 198,063 through November of the previous year. Including trademark and design applications, the total as of the end of November was 495,164, up about 7.9% from 458,854 through November of the previous year. Given the COVID-19 situation, this increase in patent, trademark and design filings is a somewhat surprising result.

However, the increase in intellectual property (IP) filings can also be seen as a natural consequence of the transition to a knowledge-based society, and government IP policies are supporting this trend. The most notable example is IP finance policy. IP-backed loans, which provide working capital to companies using their IP as collateral, are becoming increasingly common. IP-backed lending rose steeply from KRW 433.1 billion at the end of 2019 to more than KRW 1 trillion as of November 2020.

In particular, the share of SMEs among IP filings in 2020 rose sharply from the previous year, which appears to reflect the considerable influence of government support programs and IP-backed loans available to companies that hold IP. However, purely quantitative growth in the number of patent applications inevitably has its limits. Weak patents not only fail to protect a company's business but also...

(Please click the link below to read the full column.)

LNB IP Law Firm