ETRI named top IP management institution for third consecutive time as patent royalties hit record high

- Strategic IP management competitiveness proven

- Annual technology royalty target set at 100 billion won

The Electronics and Telecommunications Research Institute headquarters in Daejeon. [Herald DB]

The Electronics and Telecommunications Research Institute earned a record 51.5 billion won ($38.3 million) in patent royalties last year. ETRI is now targeting annual patent royalties of 100 billion won, anchoring its strategy on "high-value patents" — monetizing core and standard patents in global markets.

ETRI announced Tuesday that it had been named an "outstanding intellectual property management institution" by the Korea Intellectual Property Office at the "2026 Cross-Ministry Public Technology Transfer and Commercialization Road Show" held the previous day. It is the third time ETRI has received the designation, following selections in 2020 and 2023.

The outstanding IP management institution designation is awarded to universities and public research institutes based on a comprehensive evaluation of their intellectual property management systems and performance over the preceding three years.

ETRI was the first government-funded research institute to adopt an institute-wide patent strategy, doing so in 2004. Since then it has moved beyond simply increasing the number of patent applications, focusing instead on identifying core and foundational patents from the research and development stage and securing standard patents linked to international standards.

Starting this year, ETRI is elevating its approach to "high-value patent-centered IP management." Under its sixth patent strategy (2026–2030), the institute aims to strengthen competitiveness across the full patent lifecycle — from creation and protection to utilization and monetization. The plan calls for building a patent portfolio centered on core and standard patents with strong market potential and commercialization prospects, generating revenue in global markets.

ETRI general technology royalties and patent royalties. [Provided by ETRI]

Patent monetization results also reached an all-time high. Last year, ETRI recorded 51.5 billion won in annual patent royalties through patent litigation related to HEVC, a high-efficiency video compression technology, and licensing of international standard patents including LTE and WiFi.

ETRI has been converting research outcomes into revenue by licensing core patents in wireless communications — including LTE and WiFi — and video codec technologies such as HEVC and VVC to global companies. Going forward, the institute plans to expand patent litigation, global licensing, license-based IP contracts and collaboration with specialized agencies, while also increasing its royalty share in international patent pools.

Beyond monetizing its own patents, ETRI also plans to expand joint IP projects with universities and government-funded research institutes. The institute intends to share its expertise in securing standard patents and global licensing with technology licensing offices at universities and research institutes, and to broaden cooperation to include overseas patent litigation and monetization using jointly held patents — building what it calls a "collaborative IP business model."

"We have turned outstanding research results into strong patents and connected them to real value in global markets," said Shin Jeong-hyeok, head of ETRI's commercialization division. "We will share ETRI's accumulated global IP business experience with universities and government-funded research institutes to raise the intellectual property competitiveness of public research institutions as a whole."

nbgkoo@heraldcorp.com