Analysis on the recent trends of acupuncture related patents

침과 관련된 특허의 최근 동향 분석

Aims: We have examined and analyzed trends of acupuncture related patents to understand the status of acupuncture technology and research trends of acupuncture in major countries including Korea, the United States, European Union and Japan. Methods: To analyze the patents, we searched and analyzed the total of 1,048 on-line DB based patents under time limit of July, 2006. Results: According to the search results, Korea is mostly superior compared to the others in number of domestic patents. However, Korea patents is inferior in number of international patents and leave much to be desired in industrial applications because of low patents barrier of personal patents and the absence of prospective clients. In addition, in this study, we show an index of international competitiveness and preliminary data of necessity of international cooperation in a field of acupuncture researches. Conclusion: These data suggest that Korea has strong possibility to recover competitiveness for guaranteeing valuable patents, if there are international cooperation and intensive managements of industries in advanced country markets.