The Korean Intellectual Property Office (KIPO) announced that the number of international patent application cases through the Patent cooperation Treaty (PCT) in 2013 was 12,439, a 4.8% increase over the previous year.
Samsung ranked first as the company which applied for patents the most (1328 cases). LG, which had ranked first for seven years, from 2006 to 2012, ranked second with 1225 cases. LG Chem. (534 cases), Cheil Industries Inc. (157 cases), and LG Innotek Ltd. (132 cases) followed next. Three national research institutes - the Korea Institute of Energy Research (111 cases), the Electronics and Telecommunications Research Institute (78 cases) and the Korean Institute of Industrial Technology (74 cases) - also ranked among the top 10.
The number of international trademark applications through the Madrid system was 616 cases, an 11.8% increase over the previous year.
Hyundai Motors ranked first as the company which applied the most (44 cases). Seven small and medium companies, such as Harim Co. (20 cases), and Korloy (16 cases), also ranked among the top 10.

The Electronic Times, 21 Feb 2014