- Application for patents and trademarks increased by 8% and 7%, respectively - Despite uncertain global economic conditions and financial crises throughout last year, Korean applications for intellectual property rights (IPRs) such as patents and trademarks increased last year, according to recent preliminary statistics. The Korean Intellectual Property Office (KIPO, Commissioner Ho-won Kim) gathered preliminary statistics on IPR applications from 2012 and found that the total number of applications for patents, trademarks, and industrial designs filed in 2012 increased by about 8% to 400,815 from 371,116 in 2011. Although the uncertainty of the global economy is growing, companies remain committed to dominating new technologies and brands through future-oriented R&D investment, leading to an increase in Korean patent and trademark applications over the past year. By type, applications for patents increased year-on-year by 7.6% to 192,575, utility models by 5.2% to 12,467,...