Taiwan IP Trends Q2 2015: Patent and Trademark Statistics

In Taiwan, the number of overall new patent applications filed in Q2 2015 came down by 2.37% to 18,176 cases. Of these, invention patents were slightly up by 0.88% whereas utility model and design patents saw decrease. In trademark, the number of applications exceeded that in Q2 2014.


The number of invention applications totaled 10,554. Of these, foreign applications were up by 8.3% to 6,527 whereas domestic applications (4,027) were decreased by 9.2%. In June, domestic applications (1,402) unexpectedly grew by 4.32%.


Breakdown by nationality, Japan (2,721) continued to top the chart, followed by the US (1,853), South Korea (399), Germany (304) and mainland China (298). Of these, South Korea fell by 20.99% whereas Japan, the US and mainland China saw growth of 2%-11%.


Among top ten invention filing domestic corporations, Hon Hai continued to take the lead, outnumbering Acer. In terms of technical fields, Hon Hai focused on the Internet of Things (IoT) and robot territories and Acer targeted hardware demand of the IoT. Hong Fu Jin Precision Industry (Wuhan), one of Foxconn’s subsidiaries that feature computer accessories, squeezed in the 10th spot.


In the semiconductor industry, Intel has led the top 10 invention filing foreign corporations for three consecutive quarters, followed by Applied Materials, Semiconductor Energy Laboratory and Tokyo Electron. Domestically, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company came in the sixth spot.


In major portable-device manufacturers, Apple and Samsung Electronics took a downward turn whereas HTC experienced a growth in the first half of 2015. In Q2, Apple leaped to the sixth place whereas Samsung Electronics and HTC came to the 24th and 9th places in respective categories. In terms of technical fields, Apple targeted its operating system, Samsung Electronics and HTC sought advanced improvements in portable-device hardware.


The number of invention applications by major display corporations dropped in Q2 2015. Of these, AU Optronics and Samsung Display focused on display components and manufacture, Nitto Denko highlighted layering technology, and LG Chem. targeted organic LED components and devices. On the contrary, Fujifilm, which targets innovation in imaging technologies, grew slightly by 2.94%.


In expediting invention patent examination, TIPO in Q2 2015 was able to bring down backlog number (86,503) by 24.31% and shorten the average pendency for first office action (18.82 months) and disposal (26.97 months). By the end of 2015, disposal pendency is expected to average at 24-25 months.


In trademark, the number of applications (20,326) increased by 2.98%. Of these, domestic applications grew by 1.83% to 14,967 and foreign applications grew by 6.63% to 5,359. Breakdown by nationality, mainland China (1,088) continued to take the lead, followed by the US (994), Japan (806), South Korea (412) and Hong Kong (327). All of these countries except Japan (-9.34%) saw growth of 10-63%.