Korea logs surplus in IP trade in H1 on surge of culture, art

South Korea posted a surplus in its intellectual property (IP) rights trade in the first half of this year, thanks to profits on culture, art and software copyrights, according to a report from the Bank of Korea on Friday.  

The country’s IP rights trade logged $330 million in the first half, up 6.5% on-year. The profit is the second-highest ever for a half-year period, following $350 million in the second half of 2019.

The IP trade balance represents international transactions of industrial property rights, copyrights and other IP-related rights.

The industrial property rights account recorded a deficit of $1.1 billion in the first half, trebling year on year. Of the account, patent-related rights posted a $570 million shortfall, surging more than four times from the year-earlier period. Meanwhile the trademark and franchise deficit amounted to $520 million, up 62.5% on-year.

In comparison, copyrights drew a $1.5 billion surplus in the first six months, soaring 87.7% on-year.

Of copyrights, cultural and art IP trade ran a profit of $340 million, skyrocketing 143% on-year. IPs related to software and use of technology research and development marked a surplus of $1.2 billion, surging 76.1% from the year previous.

The cultural and art IP profit portion was primarily led by music and film copyrights, which logged $280 million. It is the second-largest half-year profit ever, following $390 million in the second half of 2022.

Cultural and art IP trade recorded a surplus for seven consecutive half-year periods thanks to strong exports of Korean content, said the report.

Profit in software and technology R&D copyrights was driven by the database sector, which posted a $1.5 billion surplus, thanks to online payment service providers’ overseas expansion.  

By IP trading partner, Korea logged a $1.4 billion surplus and $770 million profit from trade with China and Vietnam, respectively. In comparison, it saw a $1.7 billion deficit and a $1.1 billion loss from transactions with the UK and the US, respectively.

“The IP trade surplus from China has expanded, thanks to exports of patents on renewable energy and secondary batteries. In contrast, sluggish exports of computer programs and increased imports of tech-related industrial property rights have contributed to the widening loss on trade with the UK,” the report said.

Its IP trade loss with the US increased due to imports of auto-related patents, the report added.

Write to Do-Won Lim at van7691@hankyung.com

Jihyun Kim edited this article.