Taiwan’s patent, trademark figures show growth

In 2023, the Taiwan Intellectual Property Office (TIPO) received 72,607 patent applications. This number is up 1% over the previous year. Of these applications, inventions (50,854) grew by 1% to reach an 11-year high. However, utility model patent applications (14,466) decreased by 1%, while design patents (7,287) grew by 2%. Trademark applications amounted to 91,535 cases, reflecting a 3% decrease.

As to examination efficiency, the average first action pendency was 8.9 months for invention patent applications, and just 6.2 months for trademark applications.

Resident invention and design applications rose, while utility model applications fell.

Among the Taiwan-based applicants in 2023, invention patent applications (19,634) increased by 1%, mainly due to a 4% rise in filings from corporations. However, utility model applications (13,309) were down by 3%, marking a contraction in this sector between 2022 and 2023. Design applications (3,437 cases) showed a positive trend (+1%) after six years, driven mainly by surges in filings from schools and individuals.

Non-resident invention patent applications hit new high, while utility model and design patent applications also grew.

Non-resident applications for invention patents hit an all-time high of 31,220 (+1%), while utility (1,157 cases) and design (3,850 cases) patent applications increased by 17% and 3%, respectively.

A breakdown by applicant nationality shows that Japan continued its claim to the top spot, with 13,504 overall patent applications in 2023. It was followed by the US (7,647), mainland China (5,002), South Korea (3,299) and Germany (1,198), with both mainland China and Korea reaching individual highs.

Korea had the fastest growth rate of 19% among the top five countries and regions, while mainland China also saw a sharp growth rate of 13%. The US and Germany fell by 10% and 4%, respectively. Japan also led in the number of invention and design patent applications, and mainland China surpassed other countries in utility model applications.

Trademark applications declined to levels before the covid-19 pandemic.

The number of trademark applications decreased by 3% to 91,535 (covering 114,680 classes, down 6%), returning to the pre-pandemic levels of 2019. Notably, there was a 3% and 4% decrease in resident (71,960) and non-resident applications (19,575), respectively.Among the top five trademark filing countries or regions, mainland China (4,822 cases) took the lead, followed by the US (3,007) and Japan (2,899). Applications filed by mainland China rose 12%, while those from the US and Japan were down 16% and 18%, respectively.

Uni-President ranked No. 1 resident trademark applicant in Taiwan for fourth straight year, while Tencent Holdings led for non-residents.

For the fourth year in a row, Uni-President was the leading resident trademark applicant. It filed 583 applications in 2023, followed by Taishin International Bank (454) and Che Tai International (163). Among non-resident applicants, Tencent Holdings of Cayman Islands moved to the top with 118 applications, followed by International Foodstuffs of the United Arab Emirates (93) and L’Oreal of France (90).

Among trademark applications by residents, class 35 (advertising, business management and retail services) topped the list with 14,477 cases, followed by class 43 (services for providing food, temporary accommodation; 7,187) and class 30 (coffee, tea, pastries; 6,390). Except for stable application numbers in class 43 and class 25 (clothing, footwear, headwear; 2,896), all application numbers for the top 10 classes decreased by 2.4% to 12.6%.

Of the non-resident trademark applications, class 9 (computer and technology) led with 3,910 cases. With the exception of class 30 (coffee, tea, pastries; 1,116 cases; +6.7%), all application numbers for the top 10 classes decreased by 2.1% to 23.5%.

Invention patent application pendency remained stable to help build industry portfolio.

The TIPO went full throttle to optimise examination quality and efficiency. As a result, the average first action wait was 8.9 months for invention patent applications in 2023. For trademark applications, the average first action wait rose by a month to 6.2 months due to eight-year surges in trademark applications and limited manpower. However, 90,043 cases were disposed of in 2023, which accounts for 98.37% of trademark applications.

Top 100 patent applications.

The TIPO’s 2023 statistics show that TSMC maintained its position as the top domestic patent applicant for the eighth consecutive year, filing 1,956 applications.

Among foreign applicants, South Korea’s Samsung Electronics moved up to the top spot for the first time, with 978 applications. Both TSMC and Samsung set individual record highs for the numbers of their applications. For overall patent grants, TSMC led the pack for domestic applications with 1,040 grants, and US-based Applied Materials was the most prolific foreign applicant with 591 grants.

TSMC ranked top domestic applicant in overall patent applications and invention patent applications for 8th straight year.

TSMC led the domestic applications with 1,956 cases of patent applications (+28%) in 2023. Of the top 10 domestic applicants, Mediatek (second, with 544 cases) and Nanya Tech (fifth, with 373) reached all-time highs. In addition, Inventec (sixth, with 330, +14%) and Delta Electronics (10th, with 270, +32%) hit 10-year and 15-year highs, respectively.

The top 100 domestic patent applicants filed 12,922 cases (+1%) between them in 2023, delivering a seventh consecutive year of growth. The number of invention patent applications (9,982) saw a 4% increase, mainly driven by corporations and research institutes. Despite a 1% rise in utility model applications by industries, the total filings in utility model (2,273 cases) and design patent applications (667 cases) experienced declines of 6% and 16%, respectively. This was mainly attributed to a downturn in applications from schools and research institutes.

Taiwan Co-operative Bank took lead in both overall patent applications and invention patent applications.

There were six banks among the top 100 domestic patent applicants in 2023. With an all-time high of 223 cases among all domestic banks, Taiwan Co-operative Bank topped the list of patent applications for the second consecutive year and secured the top spot for bank invention patent applications (35). Following closely were the MEGA International Commercial Bank (195) and CTBC Bank (144 cases).

For school applicants, Taipei Chengshin University of Science and Technology led in overall patent applications, while National Cheng Kung University was most active in filing invention patents.

Twenty-four schools were among the top 100 domestic applicants for overall patent applications in 2023. Taipei Chengshin University of Science and Technology ranked first with 140 applications for the fourth straight year. Meanwhile, National Cheng Kung University (114 cases) claimed the first spot in school rankings for invention patent applications, followed by National Tsing Hua University (98) and National Yang Ming Chiao Tung University (91). Notably, National Chinyi University of Technology (ranking fourth with 88 cases) emerged as the leader among technology universities.

Industrial Technology Research Institute maintained its top position for overall patent applications for 23 years in a row.

Three research centres were also among the top 100 domestic applicants for overall patent applications in 2023. The Industrial Technology Research Institute placed eighth in the overall rankings with 315 applications, maintaining its top position among research institutes for the 23rd consecutive year. Following closely were the Metal Industries Research & Development Centre (101) and the Taiwan Textile Research Institute (42), ranking 34 and 90, respectively.

Samsung Electronics claimed the top spot among foreign patent applicants for the first time.

Samsung Electronics became the largest foreign patent applicant for the first time, with 978 applications in 2023. It was followed by US-based Applied Materials (779) and Qualcomm (639). Among the top 10 foreign applicants, Samsung, Japan-based Tokyo Electron (fourth, with 555 cases), Korea-based Coupang (sixth, 454), ASML Netherlands (seventh, 309), and US-based Lam Research (10th, 264) all posted record high numbers of applications.

The top 100 foreign patent applicants collectively filed 14,910 cases (+2%) in 2023, mainly driven by the rise in invention (13,350 cases, +2%), utility model (185 cases, +2%) and design patent applications (1,375 cases, +5%).