BY  ALEX C. H. TSUNG

The Taiwan Intellectual Property Office has published a statistical report for Taiwan patent applications in 2021. According to the data in the report, the total number of patent applications filed in Taiwan (72,613 cases) in 2021 increased by 1% compared to 2020. Of the three types of patent applications, the number of invention patent applications (49,116 cases) increased by 5% while the number of utility model patent applications (15,796 cases) decreased by 10% and the number of design patent applications (7,701 cases) decreased by 4%.

Among the Taiwan patent applications filed in 2021, inbound applications (totally 34,989 cases filed by foreign applicants) increased by 7% compared to 2020. Particularly, the numbers of invention, utility model and design patent applications filed by foreign applicants respectively increased by 7%, 13% and 2% and reached 29,569, 1,253 and 4,167 applications. Japanese applicants filed 13,324 patent applications and held a leading position in terms of the total number of inbound patent applications, followed by US applicants (7,986 cases), mainland Chinese applicants (4,253 cases) and South Korean applicants (2,388 cases). Japanese applicants also took the lead in the numbers of inbound invention (12,221 cases) and design (1,042 cases) patent applications. On the other hand, mainland Chinese applicants filed the largest number of inbound utility model patent applications, namely 782 applications.

In addition, Taiwanese applicants filed 19,547 invention patent applications in 2021, which has been the highest number since 2014. Particularly, the number of invention patent applications came from corporations and research institutes increased by 6% and 2% respectively. On the other hand, the number of utility model patent applications (14,543 cases) decreased by 12% mainly because the number of the applications came from corporations and individuals decreased by 8% and 16% respectively. Besides, the number of design patent applications (3,534 cases) decreased by 10% primarily because the number of the applications came from corporations and individuals decreased by 10% and 16% respectively.

Furthermore, the average disposal pendency for Taiwan invention patent applications in 2021 was 14 months.

(Translated and summarized from the news announced on the website of the Taiwan Intellectual Property Office, https://www.tipo.gov.tw/tw/cp-87-902546-5d3ea-1.html)

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