With 6,676 Patents Granted by the U.S. Last Year, Taiwan Ranks No. 4 in the World.

According to the latest Patent Statistics Report, released by the Patent and Trademark Office of the US Department of Commerce, the number of the patents Taiwan received from the U.S. in 2003 reached 6,676, which ranks Taiwan 4th in the world for the year 2003, just a bit less than the 98,598 patents, 37,250 patents and 12,140 patents U.S., Japan and Germany received respectively. The top 10 patent receiving countries in 2002 and 2003 were the same. The top four patent recipient countries remain the same for the 2 years while there was a change between the 5^th and the 10^th positions. South Korea ranked 7^th in 2002 and received 4,132 patents in 2003, surpassed France and the U.K. and become 5^th in the world in 2003. France and the U.K. have fallen one rank respectively, whereas the rankings of Canada, Italy, and Sweden remain the same. (2004.06)

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