일상 착용형 인체 보호 및 교정 기능성 의류제품 관련 국내 특허 동향 분석

Lifespans are increasing and many consumers are interested in health issues in these busy modern days, developing functional clothing that can be worn everyday is one of the competitive solutions in the oversaturated clothing market. When developing a new item with a fresh idea, it is important to look into prior art beforehand to avoid unnecessary intellectual property right-related disputes. This study investigates Korean domestic patents and utility models about functional clothing in terms of human body performance and health promotion in order to suggest essential data to relevant developers. We selected 324 patents and utility models and made an analysis according to the year, functions, applied technologies, frequency of claims, target wearers and item types. We found problems in current functional clothing patent application trends and suggested new aspects when developing innovative functional clothing items. Data was limited to Korean domestic patents; however, this study is still meaningful giving references to technology roadmaps and encouraging new intellectual property development.