Taiwan IPO releases statistics of top 100 patent applicants and grants for 2020
E210310Y1 Apr. 2021（E257）
Taiwan IPO released the statistics and rankings for the patent applications filed and patent grants in 2020 on March 10, 2021. Among the overall applications filed for all three kinds of patents, TSMC still headed the list by filing 1,096 applications in 2020, clinging to the top spot for five consecutive years. Qualcomm reclaimed its top honor with 720 applications filed in Taiwan to be the top foreign applicant. As to the number of patents granted for all three patent types, TSMC and Advanced New Technologies Co., Ltd. each took the lead on the list of patent grants to domestic and foreign applicants with 680 grants and 588 grants, respectively. There was a rise of 24% in the top 100 applications filed by domestic schools and colleges.
Statistics of patent applications and rankings of the top 100 applicants are summarized as follows.
1. TSMC sits comfortably at the 1st place for the fifth year in a row
Among the local applicants, TSMC has held on to the first spot with respect to the number of patent applications since 2016, and such remarkable success remained unchanged with more than 1,000 applications filed in 2020. Acer and AU Optronics followed TSMC by filing 523 applications and 466 applications, respectively. Moreover, Realtek Semiconductor and Compal Electronics each filed their highest number of applications, 420 cases and 209 cases, since 2001 to rank 4th and 9th, respectively. Inventec and Hon Hai saw their respective growth by 27% and 16% by filing 236 applications and 231 applications each, to come in 7th and 8th, respectively.
The analysis of the top 100 applicants filing for patents for all three types demonstrates that enterprises form a driving force for the R&D and innovation of Taiwan, as 78% of the invention patent applications filed by the top 100 applicants came from enterprises, while the number of applications for utility model patents and design patents also rose by 19% and 29%, respectively.
2. Eight local banks broke into the top 100 applicants ranking
There were eight local banks named among the top 100 applicants in 2020 with a total of 736 applications, which represents a yearly growth by 18% and the growth has continued for three consecutive years. Among the local banks making the top 100 applicants, Land Bank of Taiwan filed the most applications with 133 cases, while Hua Nan Bank was the top applicant that filed 43 applications for invention patents. There were a total of 224 applications filed for invention patents by the named eight banks, marking an 8% increase.
3. National Cheng Kung University was named the top applicant in college rankings for invention patent applications.
Twenty-seven schools and colleges joined the ranking of the top 100 applicants. Taipei City University of Science and Technology topped the college ranking for the first time by filing 181 applications, among which 174 applications were filed for utility models. This brings the university to the place among the top 10 of all domestic applicants. Meanwhile, National Cheng Kung University’s 109 applications for invention patents comprised most of the invention patent applications filed by schools and colleges, followed by National Tsing Hua University with 102 filings, National Chiao Tung University with 86 filings, and National Taiwan University with 82 filings. These schools all saw their respective growth in a range from 10% to 64%.
4. ITRI stays firmly at the 1st place among other research institutions
There were five research institutions recognized as the top 100 domestic applicants for patents of any types. The Industrial Technology Research Institute, which finished 5th in the overall rankings, outshined any other research institutions by filing 352 applications and was followed by the Metal Industries Research & Development Centre that filed 97 applications in 2020.
5. Qualcomm regained the top spot as the top foreign applicant
By filing 720 applications, Qualcomm earned the crown back as one of the top ten foreign applicants to see its growth by 24%. Three of the top 10 foreign applicants were semiconductor equipment manufacturers, which are Applied Materials ranking 2nd with 652 applications, Tokyo Electron ranking 4th with 460 applications, and Disco coming in 6th with 291 applications. Disco’s applications in 2020 hit its own record high for the past ten years. Besides, KIOXIA Taiwan Corporation from the memory industry rose to the 5th with a total of 338 applications. In addition, Ford Global Technologies made its debut on the top 10 ranking with 243 applications.
Statistics shows that 87% of the top 100 patent applications filed by foreign applicants were for inventions. The numbers of applications for invention patents and design patents moved down, while those for utility models went up by 11%. (Released 2021.03.10)
/CCS
