A new report shows Samsung Electronics was ranked second on a list of the top corporate patent holders between 2013 and 2015.
Its local rival LG Electronics and several other South Korean companies also made to the top 50.
Choi Si-young tells us more.
The World Intellectual Property Organization's annual report, ''World Intellectual Property Indicators 2018" shows Samsung Electronics ranked second in the total number of 'patent families' between 2013 and 2015.
A patent family refers to a set of patents taken in various countries to protect a single invention.
It's the same invention disclosed by a common inventor and patented in more than one country.
Computer technologies were the largest single category for Samsung's patent applications, making up roughly 30 percent, followed by digital communications and semiconductors.
South Korean corporate giants LG Electronics and Hyundai Motor were ranked ninth and eighteenth, respectively.
Japanese imaging and optic firm Canon topped the list.
Japan also had the largest number of firms -- at 20 -- on the top 50 list.
China was next... with 13.
South Korea had seven, the third most companies by country.
U.S. and German companies also had a significant amount of patents.
In 2015 alone, China filed the largest number of patent applications, roughly 50 percent of the entire global volume, followed by Japan, the U.S. and South Korea.
Choi Si-young, Arirang News.
