The Taiwan Intellectual Property Office (TIPO) has published a statistical report for Taiwan patent applications in 2022. According to the report, the TIPO received 72,059 patent applications, a slight decrease of 0.8% compared to 2021. The number of invention patent applications (50,242 cases) increased by 2% compared to 2021, and the number of utility model patent applications (14,662 cases) and the number of design patent applications (7,155 cases) both decreased by 7% compared to 2021. The number of invention patent applications was the highest in the past 10 years. In addition, the average period of time to issue a first Examination Report for invention patent applications after submitting a request for substantive examination was 8.8 months, and the average disposal pendency for invention patent applications was 14.3 months.

The number of invention patent applications filed by residents in 2022 was 19,400, a slight decrease of 0.8% compared to 2021. The decline in invention patent applications was mainly due to the decline in the number of invention patent applications filed by individuals and research institutions. The number of invention patent applications filed by corporations in 2022 increased by 1% compared to 2021, and the number of invention patent applications filed by the colleges and universities in 2022 increased by 7% compared to 2021. The number of utility model patent applications filed by residents in 2022 was 13,669, a decrease of 6% compared to 2021; and the number of design patent applications filed by residents in 2022 was 3,411, a decrease of 3% compared to 2021. The decline in utility model and design patent applications was mainly due to the decline in the number of utility model and design patent applications filed by individuals and corporations.

The number of invention patent applications filed by non-residents in 2022 was 30,842, an increase of 4% compared to 2021. The number of utility model patent applications and the number of design patent applications filed by non-residents in 2022 were 993 and 3,744 respectively, both of which decreased compared to 2021.

The top five countries (regions) for patents applications filed by non-residents in 2022 were Japan, the United States, the People's Republic of China, the Republic of Korea and Germany. The number of patent applications from Japan was 13,128, the number of patent applications from the United States was 8,517, the number of patent applications from the People's Republic of China was 4,424, the number of patent applications from the Republic of Korea was 2,775, and the number of patent applications from Germany was 1,242.

(Translated based on News published on the TIPO’s website)

*Section Chief of International Patent Division at Tai E International Patent & Law Office