Particularly high numbers of new graphene patent applications were filed around the world in 2012, especially in Asian countries including China and South Korea, according to CambridgeIP, a provider of technology intelligence based in Cambridge, UK.

Graphene is a substance made of pure carbon, with atoms arranged in a regular hexagonal pattern similar to graphite, but in a one-atom thick sheet. It is very light, with a 1 square meter sheet weighing only 0.77 milligrams. The substance, which was discovered in 2004, can be used for many purposes, including delivering medicines.

CambridgeIP graphene patent landscape research shows a surge in graphene patent filings around the world from around 2007. Last year experienced particularly high numbers of new graphene patent applications, with a relatively large proportion of global graphene patent applications being made in Asian countries.

“One of the striking features of the graphene patent landscape is the marked increase in graphene patent activity in Asia, especially South Korea and China, over the past several years” said Quentin Tannock, chairman of CambridgeIP.

The volume of graphene patents around the world and the relatively few graphene patents in the UK, where the material was first isolated, have given rise to concerns that the UK may lose out in the global graphene commercialization race, a CambridgeIP statement said.

“The race for value from graphene is far from over,” said Tannock. “UK inventors have a well-deserved reputation for being particularly innovative and the UK has enormous potential to secure future value in the graphene patent landscape. Additional funding for graphene R&D in the UK, and a growing awareness of the importance of patents to business models in many of the end-use sectors for graphene, will doubtless help UK based players secure most value from their graphene innovations.”

As the first 2D crystal discovered and with unusual electronic, optical and mechanical properties, graphene is of interest across industry fields as diverse as aerospace, biotech, energy, industrial chemicals and semiconductors, says CambridgeIP.