The US Patent & Trademark Office has awarded 14,168 patents to Korean inventors, more than to inventors from Canada, France, the U.K. or China; and behind only Japan and Germany.
Most of these patents have been awarded in the technology sector and have shown sharp growth in recent years. The number of technology patents awarded to Korean inventors has grown from 7,548 in 2008 to 13,233 in 2012.
The single largest recipient of U.S. patents in Korea is Samsung Electronics based in Suwon, Korea which registered 5,043 American patents in 2012; second behind IBM, globally. LG Electronics is also among the top ten global recipients of American patents at ninth with 1,617 in 2012.