Number of AI-related patent applications at JPO Japan 2011-2020

More than 5.7 thousand patent applications related to artificial intelligence (AI) were registered at the Japan Patent Office in 2020. The number of AI-related applications increased strongly since 2014, leading up to Japan's third AI boom.

Patents related to artificial intelligence

Out of the applications recorded in 2020, almost 2.4 thousand were classified as belonging to the G06N patent subclass according to the International Patent Classification (IPC) system. The G06N subclass refers to computer systems based on specific computational models and thus indicates core technologies for artificial intelligence. A breakdown of AI-related patent applications by main classification showed that G06N was one of the leading main classifications. At the same time, the Japan Patent Office recorded a high number of patent applications related to deep learning, which is a more complex form of machine learning involving several layers of algorithms.

Artificial intelligence and private enterprises

Among the leading companies based on the number of AI-related patent applications are many of Japan’s major high-tech corporations. Companies belonging to the automotive, robotics, and electronics industries are particularly active when it comes to doing research on AI. A survey asking about suitable fields for the utilization of artificial intelligence showed that fields such as translation, manufacturing, care work, and transport were thought of as suitable by a large share of respondents. Among other things, it is expected that artificial intelligence will enable robots, drones, and self-driving cars to increasingly replace human labor, which in turn could help to alleviate Japan’s labor shortages.