The balloon flower (Platycodon grandiflorum) has been used as food material and traditional medicine in Asia. Using 1,603 valid patents from 6 countries, we analyzed the patent trend based on year, countries, applicants, and technology. The technologies are categorized into 6 groups which include material, additives, manufacture, cultivation, breeding and seed. The technology competitiveness of countries were analyzed with quantitative factors such as cites per patent, patent impact index, patent family size and technology strength. In comparison with other countries in the patent index, South Korea shows an increasing trend in patent numbers and total leverage ability, although the individual technology is lower than Japan and USA. Our study provides information on technical trend to support the performance of new projects on balloon flower.

• 김창국(농촌진흥청 국립농업과학원) | Chang-Kug Kim 교신저자
• 이동준(농촌진흥청 국립농업과학원) | Dong-Jun Lee
• 배선화(농촌진흥청 국립농업과학원) | Seon-Hwa Bae
• 오재현(농촌진흥청 국립농업과학원) | Jae-Hyeon Oh