Whereas a vast amount of new information on bioinformatics is made available to the public through patents, only a small set of patents are cited in academic papers. A detailed analysis of registered bioinformatics patents, using the existing patent search system, can provide valuable information links between science and technology. However, it is extremely difficult to select keywords to capture bioinformatics patents, reflecting the convergence of several underlying technologies. No single word or even several words are sufficient to identify such patents. The analysis of patent subclasses can provide valuable information. In this paper, I did a preliminary study of the current status of bioinformatics patents and their International Patent Classification (IPC) groups registered in the Korea Intellectual Property Rights Information Service (KIPRIS) database.
Keywords: International Patent Classification (IPC); Korea Intellectual Property Rights Information Service (KIPRIS); US Patent Classification (USPC); bioinformatics patents database.