WIPS Global

What WIPS Global does

WIPS Co., Ltd. (operating as WIPS Global) is a South Korean intellectual property information services company founded in 1999 by Hyung-Chil Lee. It operates a subscription-based SaaS platform providing online patent search, AI-powered patent analysis, neural machine translation, and IP management tools to corporations, IP law firms, trademark practitioners, and individual inventors. The company claims the position of first online worldwide patent information service in Korea and reports the #1 market share in Korean patent search for 13 consecutive years, serving more than 100,000 users across 3,000+ companies with a stated 98% contract renewal rate. WIPS Global is KIPO-designated as an authorized prior art search institute for patents, trademarks, and designs, and is reportedly the only KIPO-authorized private prior art search institute in Korea; it holds ISO 27001 and BS10012 certifications.

The product portfolio spans nine platforms: WIPS Global (core patent search), PATBRIDGE (cross-border IP filing), PRISM (AI patent analysis using five proprietary algorithms with claimed 90%+ accuracy), IPAZON (online trademark search), WIPS FEE (patent annuity payment service), WIPSCLIP (clipboard-based prior art search), INTOMARK (international trademark search), WIPSON (design search), and WINTELIPS (internal IP management). The technology stack combines proprietary semantic search (SmartAngle), data visualization (SmartCloud), in-house neural machine translation, and Citation Analysis modules layered on 25+ years of accumulated patent and trademark data. The business model is enterprise SaaS subscriptions complemented by fee-based prior art search services for KIPO examiners and corporate IP teams. WIPS Global maintains offices in Seoul (HQ), Daejeon, Singapore, and the United States, with active markets in Korea, Japan, China, the US, and the Philippines; it is privately held with no disclosed parent entity.

Name

WIPS Global

Legal name

WIPS Co., Ltd.

Website

https://global.wipscorp.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

1999

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

WIPS Global is a South Korean IP information services company providing online patent search, AI-powered analysis, neural machine translation, and IP management SaaS to 3,000+ corporations, law firms, and inventors across Asia and the US.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Patent Intelligence Software

NAICS

Web Search Portals and All Other Information Services (51929), Professional, Scientific, and Technical Services (54)

akta.pro primary industry

IP Search, Watch & Competitive Intelligence (BPAHAMAI)

akta.pro secondary industries

IP Due Diligence & Freedom-to-Operate (FTO) Analysis (BPAHAMAG), NLP for Compliance, eDiscovery & Contract Analytics (HDAAADAJ)

Keywords

• Patent search services
• Intellectual property analytics
• Patent intelligence software
• AI patent classification
• IP consulting services

Headquarters

HQ city

Seoul

HQ country

South Korea

HQ region

Asia

Offices4 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Software

Cost components

Personnel, Technology or R&D, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Infrastructure, Others

Revenue model

1. Online Patent Search Database Subscription: Subscription-based online patent search and analysis services including WIPS Global, PATBRIDGE, and other database products. Provides access to global patent databases, search tools, and AI-powered analysis features.
2. IP Consulting Services: Customized IP consulting services including IP analysis, R&D strategy, technology commercialization, technology transfer, and technology evaluation.
3. File Wrapper Service: Fee-based service providing patent file histories and examination documents from multiple countries.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels5 records

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

WIPS Global is an AI-powered patent search and analysis platform that provides global patent database access, neural machine translation for CN/JP/KR documents, AI-driven classification, citation and claim analysis, and specialized tools for invalidation, freedom-to-operate, and chemical compound search. The company also offers KIPO-designated IP search services, IP consulting (R&D strategy, technology evaluation, commercialization), and file wrapper/prosecution history services across 50+ countries.

Product overview

WIPS Global is a comprehensive intellectual property service company offering a portfolio of patent search, analysis, and management solutions. The core platform is WIPS Global, an AI-powered patent search and analysis platform featuring advanced search capabilities (Field Search, Number Search, Step Search, AI Search), visualization tools (SmartAngle, SmartCloud, Citation Analysis), and specialized analysis modules (Claim Analysis, NMT translation). Supporting products include PATBRIDGE for Japanese-language Korean patent search, PRISM for AI-powered patent classification, and various IP management services (IPAZON, WIPS FEE, WIPSCLIP, INTOMARK). The company also provides professional IP Search and IP Consulting services as a KIPO-designated research institution. Products are available as web-based SaaS platforms with the core WIPS Global serving as the primary interface for patent research and analysis.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• WIPS Global: Premium patent search and analysis solution optimized for patent work based on AI technology and high-performance search engine.
• PATBRIDGE
• PRISM
• IPAZON
• WIPSCLIP
• INTOMARK
• WIPS FEE
• WINTELIPS
• WIPSON
• WIPS Global Advanced

Products and services

• WIPS Global Premium AI-powered patent search and analysis platform optimized for patent practitioners, featuring field search, number search, AI semantic search, SmartAngle visualization, SmartCloud keyword filtering, citation analysis, claim analysis, NMT translation, and IP expert tools (Chem Sight, Invalidation Advisor, FTO Generic). Subscribed by enterprises, IP professionals, and R&D teams.
• PATBRIDGE First and only Korean patent Japanese-language search service, providing full-text machine-translated Korean patents and utility models (Application 1983+, Granted 1979+) for Japanese customers seeking to analyze Korean IP.
• PRISM AI-powered automated patent classification service using 5 specialized algorithms that learn user-defined correct answer data to generate customized patent classifiers, achieving over 90% accuracy. Offers free trial for users to train and test classification engines.
• IP Search KIPO-designated professional IP search services including prior art search, patentability search, invalidity search, infringement search, and freedom-to-operate (FTO) search, delivered by specialized experts in each technical field.
• IP Consulting Customized IP consulting services including patent map/analysis, R&D planning and strategy establishment, technology evaluation, technology commercialization and transfer, and technology roadmap development.
• File Wrapper Fee-based file wrapper service providing complete patent prosecution histories from application through registration, including office actions (OA), responses, objections, and amendments from approximately 50 countries including US, Japan, Europe, Taiwan, and China. Requested via email ([email protected]).
• IPAZON Data-driven intellectual property management service launched in 2023 for comprehensive IP portfolio management and administration.
• WIPS FEE Integrated patent annuity management service launched in 2025 for managing and tracking annual patent renewal fees.
• WIPSCLIP Patent information curation platform launched in 2021 that allows users to clip, organize, and curate patent information for research and analysis purposes.
• INTOMARK Online trademark search service for searching and analyzing trademark information.
• WIPSON Korean online patent search service launched in 1999 — the first online worldwide patent information search service in South Korea — for Korean users seeking to access Korean patent data.

Quantifiable outcome

• 98% contract renewal rate for online services
• +3 more outcomes

Named customers2 records

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

AI capability7 records

Feature11 records

Partnerships

Six partnerships are on record, tiered minor and core.

• Deloitte Anjin Accounting Corp.minorImplementation/ SI/ Consulting Partner · 1 January 2016Signed MOU with Deloitte Anjin Accounting Corp. for collaboration in professional services.
• Korea Valuation AssociationminorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2015Signed MOU with Korea Valuation Association for collaboration on IP valuation and assessment services.
• Philippine Patent OfficecoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2013Signed partnership agreement with Philippine Patent Office for patent search services, marking international recognition of WIPS capabilities.
• Intellectual Property Office of the Philippines (IPOPHL)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2012Signed MOU with IPOPHL for patent search services cooperation. Also established partnership with Philippine Patent Office in 2013 for patent search services.
• Korea Database AgentcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2011Designated as authorized patent information database provider by Korea Database Agent, recognizing WIPS as qualified DB provider.
• World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2010Launched ASPI (Advanced Scientific and Technical Information) Program partnership organized by WIPO. WIPS became the only Asian developing country partner for patent information service provision.

Scale indicators6 records

Recent moves9 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• PatSnap: AI-powered patent search and intelligence platform serving R&D and IP teams globally. Competes directly with WIPS in AI-augmented patent analytics and targets similar enterprise customers with subscription SaaS.
• Questel: Global IP services provider offering Orbit Intelligence patent search and analytics, plus translation and consulting. Directly comparable product suite to WIPS Global and overlapping enterprise IP customers worldwide.
• Patentics: AI-driven patent search platform with strong Chinese language coverage. Comparable to WIPS in semantic/AI patent retrieval technology and overlapping customer base among Asian patent practitioners.
• Anaqua: IP management and analytics software platform serving corporate IP departments. Comparable to WIPS's IPAZON portfolio management offering and overlapping enterprise customers for IP administration.

Broad incumbents

• Clarivate: Global IP and innovation services giant operating Derwent, CPA Global, and MarkMonitor. Dominant incumbent in patent data and analytics with broader portfolio than WIPS but less focus on Korean-language IP.
• LexisNexis PatentSight: Enterprise patent analytics platform owned by LexisNexis. Competes with WIPS in patent valuation and strategic analysis for large corporate IP and R&D teams, with stronger European and US presence.
• RWS Group: Patent translation and IP services provider (formerly including SDL and INW). Comparable to WIPS's NMT and translation capabilities for CN/JP/KR patents plus broader global language coverage.

Emerging players

• IPlytics: Patent analytics platform focused on SEP and technology trend analysis. Comparable to WIPS's analysis tools (SmartAngle, SmartCloud) but with stronger focus on standards-essential patents.
• Aistemos: IP analytics and strategy platform using AI for patent classification and competitive intelligence. Comparable to WIPS PRISM's AI classification capabilities and overlapping customer profile among IP strategists.

Others

• Google Patents: Free global patent search engine. Not a direct subscription competitor but a baseline tool against which WIPS must justify its premium pricing through deeper analytics and Korean-language coverage.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat6 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• YouTubeyoutube.com/channel/UCOpsfLiU8HdgJ29HpbtBA2g/videos
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/wips-inc-

Compliance7 records

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles1 record

Subsidiaries2 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds1 record

Investors1 record

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about WIPS Global