Samsung Electronics has registered and held more than 50,000 patents in the U.S., according to a business source on April 14.
The move is aimed at advancing ahead of the competition in technology by proactively securing intellectual property rights in the U.S., a venue for global IT companies, while at the same time responding to international patent disputes, especially in recent years.
According to the source, Samsung Electronics held a total of 128,700 patents as of the end of last year, up 7.9 percent from 119,337 a year ago.
By country with patents registered, the U.S. accounted for the largest portion with 50,804 cases or 39.5 percent. Since it first registered U.S. patents in 1984, it has surpassed 50,000 cases based on cumulative standards.
European countries came next with 25,669 cases (19.9 percent), followed by Korea with 23,203 cases (18.0 percent), China with 11,709 cases (9.1 percent), Japan with 7,170 cases (5.6 percent), and other countries with 11,145 cases (7.9 percent).
In the U.S. alone, it registered 6,062 patents last year. It was slightly lower than the previous year's record high of 6,072, but it recorded more than 6,000 patents for two consecutive years, becoming the second-largest registered company after IBM in the U.S. for 13 years.
"Most of patents are related to smartphones, smart TVs, memory semiconductors, and system LSI, which will be used for strategic business products or will be used in the future," said a company official. "It is also playing a role of protecting businesses, as well as checking out similar technologies and patents."
