Korea is catching up with Japan in the Internet of Things (IoT) patents in healthcare around the world, a report said Thursday.

The U.S. is still leading the IoT-related patents in the healthcare industry and expected to solidify its leadership, it said.

The Korea Institute of Science and Technology Evaluation and Planning (KISTEP) published the report titled, “Analysis on Fourth Industrial Revolution Technology Competitiveness and Implications.”

IoT refers to a technology of connecting various things such as wearable devices with sensors, communication functions, and the internet.

The report defined IoT in healthcare as “enabling real-time healthcare services for patients and the elderly in remote places and utilizing mobile devices to use medical data comprehensively.”

KISTEP researchers evaluated IoT competitiveness based on patent registrations. “We regarded 2008 as the beginning of digital transformation by the Fourth Industrial Revolution. Then, we compared the patent analysis index by dividing the time into ‘Before 2008 (section I)’ and ‘After 2008 (section II)’,” the research team said.

According to the report, the U.S. had IoT patents in healthcare the most, followed by Japan, Germany, Korea, and France.

The U.S., Germany, and Korea saw their share in IoT patents in healthcare increase since 2008, while those of Japan and France shrank.

The U.S. share of IoT patents marked 54.9 percent, leading the industry. The U.S. share went up about 8 percent since 2008.

Korea’s IoT patent registrations in healthcare expanded to 3.3 percent since 2008, from 3.1 percent before 2008. The nation chased Japan in a narrower gap, as Japan’s share declined to 6 percent from 10.6 percent during the same period.

Germany accounted for 7 percent in medical IoT patents after 2008, beating Japan and France at 6 percent, respectively.

“The gap between the U.S. and Japan widened, and those between Japan and other latecomers narrowed. The U.S. is showing an outstanding superiority not only in the number of patents but quality,” the KISTEP said.

hwz@docdocdoc.co.kr

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