BY CHIA-HSIUNG LIU

The Taiwan IPO (Intellectual Property Office) received 18,174 patent applications for inventions, utility models, and designs in Q3 2022, a 0.2% increase over the same period of the previous year. Among the applicants, universities, research institutes, and financial institutions were the most prolific, with increases in filings ranging from 9% to 22%, while filings from foreign entities increased by 5%. With 277 applications, TSMC was the leading domestic applicant, and Qualcomm, having filed 220 applications, ranked first among foreign applicants.

The number of invention applications increased

Among the received 18,174 patent applications, 12,555 applications were invention applications, a 3% increase due to the growing number of foreign applications. However, applications for utility model and design patents both decreased.

TSMC and Acer filed the most invention and design applications in the domestic category

Domestic enterprises filed 3,704 invention applications, constituting a 1% decrease. Further breaking down these numbers, large as well as small and medium enterprises filed 3,020 and 684 applications, marking a 0.3% increase and a decrease of 8%, respectively.

Among the top 10 domestic entities in the invention category, 9 entities were enterprises and ITRI was the only research institute. With 277 applications, TSMC was the most prolific, while filings by UMC and Innolux notably increased by 1,375% and 4,350% with 118 and 89 applications, respectively.

All of the top 5 domestic applicants in the design category were enterprises. Acer took the lead with 40 applications, and TARNG YU submitted 15 design applications, marking a 150% increase.

Invention applications from domestic universities, research institutes, and financial industries increased

Domestic universities filed 454 invention applications, which marked an increase of 9% due to the growing numbers of applications filed by both public and private universities, among which National Cheng Kung University ranked first with 36 applications. In the sub-category of private universities, Kun Shan University took the lead with 28 applications, while applications filed by National Central University represented the highest increase of 375%.

132 invention applications were submitted by research institutes, an increase of 14% compared to the previous year, and ITRI ranked first with 47 applications. Financial institutions submitted 62 invention applications, representing an increase of 22% over Q3 2021, among which Mega Bank took the lead with 13 applications.

Foreign invention applications increased by 5%

Foreign applicants submitted 7,779 invention applications (an increase of 5%), and the top 5 countries/regions were Japan, USA, China, South Korea, and Germany with 2,942 (-4%), 1,973 (+9%), 1,006 (+36%), 689 (+23%), and 226 (-14%) applications, respectively. In addition, Japan ranked first in the category of foreign design applications with 197 applications.

Qualcomm and Philips submitted the most invention and design applications in the category of foreign applicants

Among the top 10 applicants in the category of foreign applicants, Qualcomm and Applied Materials (USA) submitted 220 and 218 invention applications, respectively, and among the top 5 design applicants, Philips (Netherlands) was the most prolific with 49 applications. Both Apple (USA) and Cartier (Switzerland) submitted 29 design applications.

(Summarized and translated based on the website of the Taiwan IPO)

*Patent Attorney at Tai E International Patent & Law Office