The Taiwan Intellectual Property Office (TIPO) has published the number of patent and trademark applications filed in 2023. The TIPO received 72,607 patent applications including invention, utility model, and design, which slightly increased by 0.76%, maintaining seventy-plus thousand applications since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. For patent applications filed by domestic applicants, the number of invention and design applications both increased by 1%, while the number of utility model applications decreased by 3%. For patent applications filed by foreign applicants, the applications of invention, utility model and design, are increased by 1%, 17%, and 2%, respectively. The total number of trademark applications is 91,535, with an annual decrease by 3.42%. The trademark applications by domestic and foreign applicants decreased by 3.18% and 4.29%, respectively. Although the total trademark filings in 2023 have been lower compared to the years during the COVID-19 pandemic, there are still more than ninety thousand applications. The following are the statistics of Taiwan patent and trademark applications in 2023.
Table 1: The number of Taiwan patent applications in the past three years
| Year | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Invention | 46,664 | 49,116 | 50,242 | 50,854 |
| Utility Model | 17,555 | 15,796 | 14,662 | 14,466 |
| Design | 8,019 | 7,701 | 7,155 | 7,287 |
| Total | 72,238 | 72,613 | 72,059 | 72,607 |
Table 2: Number of applications from domestic applicants and foreign applicants
| Year | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Applicant | Domestic | Foreign | Domestic | Foreign | Domestic | Foreign |
| Invention | 19,547 | 29,569 | 19,400 | 30,842 | 19,634 | 31,220 |
| Utility Model | 14,543 | 1,253 | 13,669 | 993 | 13,309 | 1,157 |
| Design | 3,534 | 4,167 | 3,411 | 3,744 | 3,437 | 3,850 |
| Total | 37,624 | 34,989 | 36,480 | 35,579 | 36,380 | 36,227 |
| Percentage | 52.02% | 48.18% | 50.63% | 49.37% | 50.11% | 49.89% |
Table 3: Major foreign countries (regions) and number of patent applications filed in Taiwan
| Year | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Types | IN | UM | DE | Total | IN | UM | DE | Total | IN | UM | DE | Total (annual increase) |
| Japan | 12,221 | 61 | 1,042 | 13,324 | 12,078 | 52 | 998 | 13,128 | 12,505 | 62 | 937 | 13,504 (↑3%) |
| USA | 7,011 | 133 | 842 | 7,986 | 7,671 | 97 | 749 | 8,517 | 6,731 | 93 | 823 | 7,647 (↓10%) |
| China | 3,022 | 782 | 449 | 4,253 | 3,493 | 573 | 358 | 4,424 | 3,809 | 724 | 469 | 5,002 (↑13%) |
| Korea | 2,223 | 8 | 157 | 2,388 | 2,582 | 46 | 147 | 2,775 | 3,112 | 37 | 150 | 3,299 (↑19%) |
| Germany | 1,047 | 8 | 233 | 1,288 | 991 | 7 | 244 | 1,242 | 954 | 5 | 239 | 1,198 (↓4%) |
Table 4: Number of foreign/domestic applications for trademark registration filed in Taiwan
| Year | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Domestic Applicant （Percentage） | 72170 -76.7% | 73374 -76.5% | 74326 -78.42% | 71960 -78.62% |
| Foreign Applicant （Percentage） | 21919 -23.3% | 22543 -23.5% | 20452 -21.58% | 19575 -21.38% |
| Total applications | 94,089 | 95,917 | 94,778 | 91,535 |
| Total classes | 119,660 | 123,217 | 122,320 | 114,680 |
Table 5: Major foreign countries (regions) and number of trademark applications filed in Taiwan
| Year | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 (increase/decrease rate compared with 2022) |
|---|---|---|---|
| China | 4,929 | 4,324 | 4,822 (↑11.52%) |
| USA | 4,032 | 3,572 | 3,007 (↓15.82%) |
| Japan | 3,437 | 3,546 | 2,899 (↓18.25%) |
| Korea | 1,571 | 1,573 | 1,649 (↑4.83%) |
| Hong Kong | 1,548 | 1,120 | 957 (↓14.55%) |
Table 6: Major categories (Nice Classification) and number of Taiwan trademark applications filed in 2023
| Classes | Domestic Applicants | Classes | Foreign Applicants | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Class 35 (advertising, business operation, etc.) | 14477 （↓5.4%） | Class 9 (computer and technology products, etc.) | 3910 （↓14.2%） | |
| Class 43 (restaurant, lodging, etc.) | 7187 （↓0.2%） | Class 35 (advertising, business operation, etc.) | 2496 （↓13.5%） | |
| Class 30 | 6,390 | Class 5 | 2,149 | |
| (coffee, tea, pastries, etc.) | （↓12.6%） | (pharmaceuticals, etc.) | （↓2.9%） | |
| Class 41 (coffee, tea, pastries, etc.) | 5095 （↓4.6%） | Class 3 (toiletries, detergents, etc.) | 2054 （↓5.8%） | |
| Class 5 (pharmaceuticals, etc.) | 5054 （↓4.4%） | Class 42 (scientific and technological services) | 1773 （↓22%） | |
| Class 9 (computer and technology products, etc.) | 4039 （↓7.7%） | Class 41 (education, entertainment, etc.) | 1439 （↓23.5%） | |
| Class 3 (toiletries, detergents, etc.) | 4027 （↓2.4%） | Class 25 (clothing, footwear, etc.) | 1414 （↓8%） | |
| Class 29 (meat, preserved fruits and vegetables, etc.) | 3689 （↓8.8%） | Class 30 (coffee, tea, pastries, etc.) | 1116 （↑6.7%） |
Table 7: Top five applicants with the number of categories of Taiwan trademark registration applications in 2022
| Domestic Applicant | Number of Applications | Foreign Applicant | Number of Applications |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. Uni-President Enterprises | 583 | 1. Tencent Holdings | 150 |
| 2. Taishin Bank | 454 | 2. International Foodstuffs | 94 |
| 3. Che Tai International | 163 | 2. L'OREAL | 94 |
| 4. King Car | 158 | 4. Wuling Motors | 86 |
| Note: For top patent applicants, please refer to our newsletter of “2023 Taiwan Top 100 Patent Applicants. | |||
Table 8: TIPO Processing period for Taiwan patent and trademark applications in 2021
| Invention Patent | Trademark | |
|---|---|---|
| Average time for issuance of a first opinion letter by TIPO | 8.9 months | 6.2 months |
| Average time for issuance of a decision by TIPO | 14.4 months | 7.5 months |
