Current Status of Applied Korean Patents Regarding the Deep Sea Water

Deep sea water exists at depths of over 200m under the sea. As no sunlight reaches it, photosynthesis does not take place within it, and it contains no organic matter. In addition, its temperature is maintained at a stable low level throughout the year, so it does not get mixed with the sea water on the surface. It contains a large amount of nutritious salts, whose cleanness is maintained. It is a marine resource that has matured for a long period of time. Research into deep sea water, which started in the 1970s, has been made around the whole world, including the USA and Japan. In Korea, research has been active in this area since 2000. As there has been a good amount of research into industrial applications for deep sea water, since 1993, patents for the relevant technologies have been applied. This paper intends to provide a resource to researchers of deep sea water, by summarizing of all domestic deep sea water-related patents applied with Korean Intellectual Property Office from 1993 to 2008. This research was conducted using a computer and KIPRIS Database owned by the Korea Institute of Patent Information. 'Deep sea water' was used as the search keyword. A total of 222 Korean patents relating to deep sea water have been registered on the basis of IPC. Of these, 126 patents relate to the manufacturing and the treatment of foods, foodstuffs, or non-alcoholic beverages(A23L), while 50 patents relate to the production for medical, dental, or cosmetic purposes(A61K). 38 patents relate to water purification, treatment of wastewater, sewage and sludge (C02F), while 8 patents relate to fishery and farming(A01K). In summary, it was found that studies for the practical use of deep sea water have been conducted in relation to the manufacturing and the treatment of foods, foodstuffs, beverages, and cosmetics.

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