Invention patents in the intellectual property system are extremely important to encourage scientific and technological research and innovation. Furthermore, the technical fields of invention patents often show the current and future development trends of the global industry. The following tables are based on the 2021 invention patents of Taiwan and the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) published by the Taiwan Intellectual Property Office (TIPO). Taiwan is not a member of WIPO and cannot directly apply for a PCT international patent by the Patent Cooperation Treaty under WIPO. However, Taiwan patent laws and regulations are in line with international standards, and foreign applicants can apply for a patent and claim priority within 12 months after the PCT case is filed. Since Taiwan’s semiconductor technology is also an important industry for the world and drives the development of other industries, the patent layouts in Taiwan and the advanced countries can be used as a reference for applicants.
The technical fields of Taiwan and WIPO’s invention patent applications in 2021
| Taiwan (TIPO published cases) | WIPO (PCT Published Cases) | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ranking | Technical field | Number of cases | Percentage | Growth rate | Ranking | Technical field | Number of cases | Percentage | Growth rate |
| 1 | Semiconductor | 6,360 | 12.90% | 19.60% | 1 | Computing technology | 26,092 | 9.90% | 7.20% |
| 2 | Computing technology | 4,283 | 8.70% | -1.40% | 2 | Digital communication | 23,603 | 9.00% | 6.90% |
| 3 | Electro-mechanical energy devices | 3,135 | 6.40% | 5.10% | 3 | Medical technology | 18,552 | 7.10% | 6.00% |
| 4 | Optics | 2,566 | 5.20% | -3.10% | 4 | Electro-mechanical energy devices | 18,224 | 6.90% | 4.90% |
| 5 | Audiovisual technology | 2,243 | 4.60% | 1.40% | 5 | Measurements | 12,152 | 4.60% | -4.30% |
| 6 | Surface treatment | 2,002 | 4.10% | 5.90% | 6 | Pharmaceutical Drugs | 12,147 | 4.60% | 12.80% |
| 7 | Measurements | 1,956 | 4.00% | 5.90% | 7 | Audiovisual technology | 10,837 | 4.10% | -6.00% |
| 8 | Polymer chemistry | 1,875 | 3.80% | -1.10% | 8 | Transport | 10,110 | 3.80% | -10.50% |
| 9 | Organic precision chemistry | 1,692 | 3.40% | -1.60% | 9 | Biotechnology | 8,745 | 3.30% | 9.50% |
| 10 | Pharmaceutical Drugs | 1,616 | 3.30% | 26.30% | 10 | Semiconductor | 8,346 | 3.20% | -5.80% |
| 11 | Medical technology | 1,585 | 3.20% | -0.10% | 11 | Optics | 7,919 | 3.00% | -5.40% |
| 12 | Basic materials chemistry | 1,578 | 3.20% | -7.20% | 12 | Other special machinery | 7,232 | 2.70% | -3.40% |
| 13 | Digital communication | 1,426 | 2.90% | -2.50% | 13 | Telecommunications | 6,371 | 2.40% | -1.10% |
| 14 | Biotechnology | 1,362 | 2.80% | 19.10% | 14 | Civil engineering | 6,317 | 2.40% | -2.80% |
| 15 | Other special machinery | 1,249 | 2.50% | 2.00% | 15 | Mechanical operation handling | 6,256 | 2.40% | -2.40% |
| Source: TIPO | |||||||||
Top three technical fields and percentages of invention patent applications between Taiwan and WIPO in 2021
| Applicant’s Nationality | TIPO | WIPO |
|---|---|---|
| Taiwan | Semiconductors 14.5% | - |
| Computing technology 12.3% | ||
| Electro-mechanical energy equipment 7.1% | ||
| United States | Semiconductors 12.0%. | Computing technology 12.4% |
| Computing technology 8.4% | Medical technology 10.8%. | |
| Digital communications 7.1%. | Digital communication 9.7%. | |
| Japan | Semiconductors 14.1% | Electro-mechanical energy installations 10.9% |
| Polymer chemistry 9.9%. | Computing technology 7.1% | |
| Surface treatment 7.5%. | Measurements 5.7%. | |
| China | Computing technology 13.9% | Computing technology 15.6% |
| Organic chemistry 9.0%. | Digital communications 15.2%. | |
| Audiovisual technology 8.8%. | Audiovisual technology 7.0%. | |
| South Korea | Semiconductors 18.3% | Digital communications 11.5%. |
| Computing technology 10.3% | Electro-mechanical energy installations 9.3% | |
| Information management 6.3%. | Computing technology 8.7% | |
| Germany | Organic chemistry 11.6%. | Electro-mechanical energy installations 10.3% |
| Basic materials chemistry 10.2%. | Transport 9.6%. | |
| Optics 5.9%. | Measurements 6.3%. | |
| Source: TIPO | ||
2021 Taiwan major patent applicants and their number of invention patent applications (with growth rates) in top five technical fields.
| Semiconductor | Computing technology | Electro-mechanical energy devices | Optics | Audiovisual technology | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | TSMC | 1412 (74.5%) | 1 | TSMC | 191 (75.2%) | 1 | Applied Materials | 66 (15.8%) | 1 | ASML Netherlands | 126 (-19.2%) | 1 | AUO Corp | 135 (-18.7%) |
| 2 | Tokyo Electron | 290 (2.5%) | 2 | Kioxia | 150 (-12.8%) | 2 | ASML Netherlands | 65 (-71.1%) | 2 | TSMC | 114 (-100%) | 2 | Qualcomm | 116 (0%) |
| 3 | Applied materials | 243 (-10.5%) | 3 | Acer | 136 (-18.3%) | 3 | Delta Electronics | 62 (-24%) | 3 | Nitto Denko | 101 (-24.7%) | 3 | Inventec | 83 (-1.2%) |
| 4 | Kioxia | 234 (33.0%) | 4 | Qualcomm | 134 (-100%) | 4 | Darfron Electronics | 46 (-100%) | 4 | AU Optronics | 89 (-15.2%) | 4 | Acer | 45 (-4.7%) |
| 5 | Nanya Technology | 228 (-119.2%) | 5 | Samsung Electronics | 123 (-41.4%) | 5 | Nitto Denko | 43 (-30.3%) | 5 | Cannon | 60 (-6.3%) | 5 | LG Display | 39 (-25.8%) |
| 6 | Samsung Electronics | 226 (-218.3%) | 6 | Realtek Semiconductor | 110 (-9.1%) | 6 | AMEC | 40 (-16.7%) | 6 | Largon Precision | 53 (-29.3%) | 5 | Guangdong OPPO | 39 (-) |
| 7 | Disco | 142 (-10.7%) | 7 | Silicon Motion | 71 (-25.3%) | 7 | LG Energy | 37 (-) | 7 | Applied Materials | 52 (-18.2%) | 5 | Realtek Semiconductor | 39 (-18.2%) |
| 8 | AUO Corp | 105 (-61.5%) | 8 | Macronix | 64 (-18.5%) | 8 | Foxconn Interconnect Tech | 36 (-37.9%) | 8 | Shin-Etsu Chemical | 49 (-16.7%) | 8 | Compal Electronics | 36 (-5.3%) |
| 9 | Screen | 101 (-11%) | 9 | Intel | 64 (-1.6%) | 9 | Dongguan Luxshare | 32 (-30.4%) | 9 | Samsung Electro-Machanics | 44 (-109.5%) | 9 | Fraunhofer-Gesekkschaft | 33 (-10%) |
| 10 | Qualcomm | 87 (278.3%) | 10 | Nuroton Technology | 60 (-39.5%) | 9 | Molex Incorporated | 32 (-23.1%) | 10 | Carl Zeiss SMT | 41 (-24.2%) | 10 | Sony Semiconductor | 31 (-8.8%) |
| 9 | Primax Electronics | 32 (-23.1%) | 10 | Cloud Network Technology | 31 (-19.2%) | |||||||||
| 9 | Lam Research | 32 (-45.5%) | ||||||||||||
| Source: TIPO | ||||||||||||||
2021 WIPO major applicants of invention patent applications with their main technical fields and proportion
| Ranking | Applicant | Technical field and proportion | Ranking | Applicant | Technical field and proportion |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Huawei | Digital Communications 46.9% | 6 | Guangdong OPPO | Digital Communications 51.9% |
| Computing Technology 20.0% | Computing Technology 16.8% | ||||
| Telecom 8.8% | Audiovisual technology 10.8%. | ||||
| 2 | Qualcomm | Digital Communications 75.0% | 7 | BOE Technology Group | Semiconductors 31.2%. |
| Telecommunications 10.6% | Audiovisual technology 22.9% | ||||
| Audiovisual technology 4.5%. | Computing Technology 17.3% | ||||
| 3 | Samsung Electronics | Digital Communications 29.8% | 8 | LM Ericsson | Digital Communications 69.4% |
| Computing Technology 21.9% | Telecommunications 13.3%. | ||||
| Telecommunications 12.8% | Computing Technology 8.8% | ||||
| 4 | LG Electronics | Digital Communications 32.1% | 9 | Sony | Computing Technology 22.8% |
| Audiovisual technology 15.6%. | Digital communication 18.6% | ||||
| Telecom 10.7% | Audiovisual technology 18.4%. | ||||
| 5 | Mitsubishi Electric | Heat treatment and equipment 18.1%. | 10 | Panasonic Intellectual Property Management | Electro-mechanical energy equipment 28.4% |
| Electro-mechanical energy installations 17.8% | Measured 7.4%. | ||||
| Computing Technology 9.5% | Audiovisual technology 7.1%. | ||||
| Source: TIPO | |||||
The number of invention patent applications (and growth rates) filed in Taiwan and WIPO relating to pharmaceutical technologies in the past three years
| TIPO | WIPO | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year | Pharmaceutical Drugs | Biotechnology | Medical Technology | Pharmaceutical Drugs | Biotechnology | Medical Technology |
| 2019 | 1333 (-8%) | 960 (-16.8%) | 1371 (-1.1%) | 9785 (-7.2%) | 7404 (-11.5%) | 16916 (-7.1%) |
| 2020 | 1280 (-4.0%) | 1144 (-19.2%) | 1587 (-15.8%) | 10767 (-10%) | 7985 (-7.8%) | 17500 (-3.5%) |
| 2021 | 1616 (-26.3%) | 1362 (-19.1%) | 1585 (-0.1%) | 12147 (-12.8%) | 8.745 (-9.5%) | 18552 (-6%) |
| Source: TIPO | ||||||
Number of invention patent applications (and growth rates) filed in Taiwan and WIPO from 2019 to 2022
| 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| TIPO | 48268 (+1.8%) | 46664 (-3.3%) | 49116 (+5.3%) | 50242 (+2.3%) |
| WIPO | 265383 (+5.0%) | 274889 (+3.6%) | 277500 (+0.9%) | 278100 (+0.3%) |
