FlowIP insights
Korean IP Work Concentrates on the Way In and Disperses on the Way Out
Across patent families from 2016–2022, the ten largest Korean firms handled 60% of US-to-Korea work and 33% of Korea-to-US work. For trademarks the shares were 82% and 31%.
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From 2016 to 2022, the ten most active Korean patent firms handled 60% of patent families that came from the United States into Korea. In the other direction, the top ten Korean firms in that direction accounted for only 33% of families sent from Korea to the United States. Trademarks show a wider gap: 82% of US-to-Korea trademark families went through the top ten Korean representatives, against 31% of Korea-to-US families.
Work coming into Korea gathers at a small group of large firms. Work leaving Korea is spread across hundreds of firms. The Japan and Europe corridors point the same way. For Korean firms looking for foreign partners, and for foreign firms that want Korean referrals, this structure is the starting point.
Key figures
- US to Korea, patents: 25,413 families, 587 Korean firms involved, top-ten share 60.1%.
- Korea to US, patents: 54,770 families, 1,833 Korean firms involved, top-ten share 32.6%.
- 321 Korean firms sent 20 or more US-bound patent families over the seven years. 150 Korean firms received 20 or more families from the United States.
- For trademarks, 124 Korean representatives handled US-to-Korea work, while 481 sent Korea-to-US work.
Patents: concentration on the Korean side
2016–2022, counted as distinct patent families. "Top-ten share" is the share of families in which at least one of the ten Korean firms with the most families in that corridor took part.
| Corridor | Direction | Families | Korean firms involved | Top-ten share | Top-fifty share |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| US→KR | Inbound | 25,413 | 587 | 60.1% | 83.8% |
| KR→US | Outbound | 54,770 | 1,833 | 32.6% | 69.3% |
| JP→KR | Inbound | 26,478 | 598 | 56.9% | 81.8% |
| KR→JP | Outbound | 20,064 | 742 | 46.1% | 75.6% |
| EP→KR | Inbound | 24,436 | 544 | 55.9% | 81.7% |
| KR→EP | Outbound | 28,249 | 799 | 44.2% | 78.9% |
The US corridor shows the largest gap. Even the top fifty Korean firms cover only 69% of Korea-to-US families. The remaining 31% is split across more than 1,700 firms.
Trademarks: an even sharper split
Filing years 2016–2022, trademark families with an identified Korean representative. Families handled by the applicant’s own in-house team are excluded.
| Corridor | Direction | Families | Korean representatives involved | Top-ten share | Top-fifty share |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| US→KR | Inbound | 8,303 | 124 | 82.0% | 97.7% |
| KR→US | Outbound | 9,156 | 481 | 31.2% | 64.0% |
| JP→KR | Inbound | 2,634 | 85 | 79.7% | 97.7% |
| KR→JP | Outbound | 6,457 | 437 | 32.4% | 64.8% |
| EU→KR | Inbound | 2,834 | 129 | 68.9% | 94.5% |
| KR→EU | Outbound | 831 | 155 | 42.8% | 80.1% |
US-to-Korea trademark work is almost entirely handled within the top fifty. Korean brands filing in the United States went out through 481 different Korean representatives.
Why the structure looks like this
The data shows the distribution; the reasons are interpretation. Two explanations fit day-to-day practice.
- Inbound work is chosen by the foreign firm. A foreign attorney picking Korean counsel often knows little about the local market and defaults to a well-known large firm. Once set up, those relationships tend to last.
- Outbound work follows domestic client relationships. Korean applicants usually give their foreign filings to the firm that handles their Korean filings. Smaller firms with many domestic clients therefore send a large share of the work abroad.
What this means for Korean firms
- Competing only for inbound work is an uphill fight. The top ten already hold 60% of US-to-Korea patent work and 82% of the trademark work.
- The work you send abroad is your leverage. 321 Korean firms sent 20 or more US-bound patent families in seven years. To a foreign firm, they are the ones who bring clients. How much your firm sends, and in which corridor, is the strongest point in any partner conversation.
- Read candidates in your direction. A foreign firm that receives a lot of Korean work is not necessarily a firm that sends work to Korea.
What this means for foreign firms
- To win Korean referrals, look beyond the top ten. 67% of Korea-to-US patent families came from firms outside the top ten.
- Relationships with the largest firms alone miss most Korean applicants. Korean brands reached the United States through 481 Korean representatives.
- The target is the mid-sized sender. Several hundred Korean firms send steady volumes abroad. Their technology fields and client mix decide whether they fit as partners.
Questions to ask about a candidate
- Does this firm send work in our corridor, or receive it?
- How many families does it send, and over how many years?
- Is the work it sends concentrated with one or two firms, or spread across several?
- Do the technology fields and applicant types of that work match our practice?
- If the top few relationships are already fixed, where is the opening for us?
How to read these figures
- Unit: distinct filing families. A family with two Korean firms on record counts once for each firm, but only once in corridor totals and top-N shares.
- Direction: for patents, the flow from the priority filing office to the later filing office. For trademarks, the flow from the applicant’s office to the designated office, split by which side the Korean representative appears on.
- Period: patents by flow year 2016–2022, trademarks by filing year 2016–2022. Recent years are left out because of publication lag and differences in collection coverage.
- Top N: ranked by family count within the corridor and direction. A rank says nothing about a firm’s quality or client satisfaction.
- Scope: firms that appear in patent and trademark representative records. Advisory or referral relationships that are not recorded are not included.
- As of: FlowIP data on November 5, 2026.
Firms and their sent and received counts for each corridor are on the Korea–United States corridor page.