In accordance with KIPO, the number of patent applications relating to AI accelerators filed over the last 10 years increased by 15%, annual average. The AI accelerator mentioned above means a technology applied to specialized hardware to realize and perform artificial intelligence.

By the nationality of an applicant, US is highest with 45% (2,255 applications), followed by China with 23.1% (1,156), South Korea with 13.5% (677), Japan with 10.1% (504) and Europe with 5.3% (267). The number of the relevant applications with the major countries over the last 5 years (2016~2020) increased by an average of 3.4 times (from 1,129 to 3,879), compared to the same period of the previous 5 years (2011~2015); whereas the number of the applications filed in South Korea increased by 7.5 times (from 80 to 597). The number of the applicants in the major countries increased by an average of 2.8 times (from 243 to 685); whereas the number thereof in South Korea increased by 3.8 times (from 23 to 88).

From Kim Hong & Associates

October 2022