Korea leads global growth in medical device patents: KHIDI report

The report showed that the number of medical device patents in Korea grew the fastest among major countries, and the impact of domestic medical device patents ranked third in terms of new therapeutic technologies and diagnostic devices.

The Korea Health Industry Development Institute (KHIDI) stated this in its latest report, “Trends in New Technology Patents in Medical Devices.” Researchers Kim Min-ju and Han Seung-cheol of KHIDI’s industrial statistics team analyzed medical device patents registered between January 1, 2012 and December 31, 2021 at five major patent offices.

These five include the Korea Intellectual Property Office (KIPO), the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO), the Japan Patent Office (JPO), the European Patent Office (EPO), and the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO).

The report classifies new medical device technologies as “new therapeutic and diagnostic devices” and “new functional/assistative health care devices.”

New therapeutic and diagnostic devices include therapeutic and assistive devices such as electronic medicines and digital therapies, diagnostic and in vitro diagnostic devices, and medical robots. New functional/assistive health care devices include physical, sensory and expressive functional restoration and assistive devices, medical devices for human implantation, such as prosthetic devices and artificial joints, and new materials.

In the years 2012-2021, 68,272 patents were filed in the area of ​​new technology medical devices. The annual number has doubled from 4,260 in 2012 to 8,975 in 2021.

The number of patents related to new therapeutic and diagnostic devices was 53,129, representing 77.8% of all patents in the field of new medical devices. The number of patents related to therapeutic and diagnostic devices increased 1.8-fold, from 3,577 in 2012 to 6,466 in 2021. The total number of patents related to new functional/assistative and health care devices was 15,143, an increase 3.7 times from 683 in 2012 to 2,509 in 2012. 2021.

The highest average annual growth rate among all KIPO patents, especially over the last five years (2017-2021), was recorded by patents for new therapeutic and diagnostic devices; They recorded a growth rate of 10.7 percent, higher than other national patent offices.

In terms of patent status for new medical devices by applicant nationality, Korean applicants filed 2,225 patents for new therapeutic and diagnostic devices and 2,501 patents for new functional/health care assistive devices, for a total of 4,726 patents. This represented an average annual growth rate of 12.3% and 20%, respectively, the highest excluding China.

Top Korean patent applicants include Samsung Electronics with 159 patents for new therapeutic and diagnostic devices and DIO with 135 patents for new functional recovery/assistive and health care devices.

An analysis of the patent rates of leading applicants (nationalities) for new therapeutic and diagnostic devices in 12 major countries shows that Korea ranked third in terms of the Patent Impact Index (PII), although it ranked lower in terms of number of patents (12th). and patent competitiveness (11th place).

PII measures the quality of a patent applicant’s registered patents based on citation index, which measures the degree of influence on other patents. The research team analyzed that the recent increase in the number of patents registered in Korea for new restorative/assistative and health care device technologies is expected to increase patent impact and competitiveness.

“New technologies, called innovative technologies, such as artificial intelligence (AI) and robotics, are changing the industry paradigm, whether they are developed as new medical devices or converged with existing medical devices to improve their functions, enabling the provision of high-quality quality of medical services, as well as affecting the functioning of companies’ human resources,” the scientists said. “Currently, the new medical device industry is in its early to mid-growth phase, characterized by high market attractiveness and low barriers to entry in terms of patent trends.

They continued: “As global technological competition intensifies and rapid growth is expected, it is essential to actively invest in research and development and prepare actions to strengthen international competitiveness in the field of new medical devices.