DAEJEON, May 23 (Korea Bizwire) — The near ubiquity of kiosks at restaurants and stores nationwide has led to an increasing number of related patents, data showed Sunday.
The Korean Intellectual Property Office reported that the number of patents submitted in the last 10 years (2012 to 2021) grew by 16 percent each year.
The number of patent applications grew from 52 in 2017 to 111 in 2018, 169 in 2019 and 228 in 2020 before dropping down to 176 submissions last year.
Among technologies introduced for kiosks since 2000, a majority (266) dealt with short-range wireless communication technology.
Another 66 patents dealt with artificial intelligence (AI) technology used for facial or voice recognition and stock management while 56 patents dealt with technology that uses fingerprints or irises for identification.
Among the patent applications, 54 percent were submitted by small and medium-sized companies, followed by private individuals (26 percent), large conglomerates (10 percent) and universities (4 percent).
Local company Bizmodeline submitted the most patents (26), followed by Hyosung TNS (17) and Samsung Electronics (14).
Image Credit: Korean Intellectual Property Office / Yangcheon Ward Office / photonews@koreabizwire.com
