Network Analysis of Non-Fungible Token Patent Trends in South Korea: Exploring the Evolution of Digital Asset Technologies

Abstract

This study investigates the evolutionary trajectory of the NFT (Non-Fungible Token) technology domain using Korean patent data from KIPRIS covering 2016–2025. The analysis divides the dataset into three periods (2016–2018, 2019–2021, and 2022–2025) and, after preprocessing patent texts, applies frequency analysis, TF–IDF, and networks with centrality. The results show that an infrastructure core—centered on blockchain, users, transactions, services, and servers—persists across all periods; platform- and operations-related elements become more salient in the middle period; and explicit references to “NFT” alongside issuance and value-related elements rise in the late period. From a network perspective, the domain shifts from dense early-stage coupling toward more selective recombination, while the late period exhibits modularization characterized by stronger within-cluster cohesion and the growing importance of inter-cluster mediating elements. Interpreted through a strategic management perspective, the infrastructure core tends to converge into a red ocean of intensified competition, whereas white spaces are more likely to emerge in novel technology combinations and mediating elements that connect sub-technology clusters; accordingly, this study provides empirical evidence to inform R&D prioritization and business model innovation.