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