The Taiwan Intellectual Property Office (TIPO) has published a list of Top 100 Applicants of companies that have filed the most patent applications in 2023. Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC) is the top domestic applicant for the eighth consecutive year, with a growth of 28% since the previous year. Samsung Electronics is the top ranked foreign applicant for the first time, with a growth of 45%. The total number of patent applications filed by the top 100 domestic and foreign applicants are 12,922, an annual increase of 1%, and 14,910, an annual increase of 2%, respectively. Among the three patent types, TSMC has the highest number of invention applications among domestic and foreign applicants, while Coupang Corporation (e-commerce company from South Korea) is ranked 6th of the top ten foreign applicants (mainly in the semiconductor and other technical fields); utility model applications are still mainly filed by domestic applicants, especially the local banks; as to the design applications, unlike in previous years, Apple has surpassed the traditional automobile makers, and ranked the 13th on foreign applicant list. The following tables summarize the TIPO statistics for reference.
Number of patent applications filed by top 100 applicants in 2023
| Type of Patent | Invention (IN) | Utility Model (UM) | Design (DE) |
|---|
| Domestic Applicant | Enterprise | 8,415（↑8%） | 1,753（↑1%） | 512（↓19%） |
| School | 1,118（↓17%） | 512（↓23%） | 154（↓3%） |
| Research Institute | 499（↑13%） | 8（↓53%） | 1（↓50%） |
Foreign Applicant
（mainly enterprises） | 13,350（↑2%） | 185（↑2%） | 1,375（↑5%） |
Domestic Applicants with number of applications filed in 2023
| Enterprise [Invention]：TSMC 1,956, MediaTek 541, AU Optronics 448, Acer 292, Nanya Tech 373, Inventec 303, Innolux 324, Realtek 271, Delta Electronics 271, United Microelectronics 177 |
| School: Taipei City University of Science & Technology 140 (IN 6 /UM 134), National Cheng Kung University 131 (IN 114, UM 1, DE 2), Chang Gung University Of Science and Technology 118 (IN 42, UM 1件, DE 75), Shu-Te University 118 (IN 28, UM 54, DE 36), National Chin-Yi University of Technology 115 (IN 88, UM 26, DE 1), National Tsing Hua University 100 (NI 98, UM 2) |
| Research Institute: Industrial Technology Research Institute 315 (IN 310, UM 4, DE 1), Metal Industries Research & Development Centre 101 (IN 99, UM 2) |
| Bank: Taiwan Cooperative Bank 223 (IN 35, UM 188), Mega Bank 195 (IN 27, UM 168), China Trust Commercial Bank 144 (IN 20, UM 120, DE 4) |
Foreign Applicants with number of applications filed in 2023
| [Invention] Samsung Electronics 977, Applied Materials 738, Qualcomm 639, Tokyo Electron 547, Nitto Denko 478, Coupang 454, ASML Netherlands 309, Fujifilm 275, Shin-Etsu Chemical 229, Lam Research 247, Screen Holdings 259, Resonac 243, Fanuc 208, Disco 222, Kioxia 218 |
| [Design] Apple 205 (also IN 34), BMW 136, Ford Global Tech 111, Cartier International 84, Harry Winston 72, Sony Interactive Entertainment 64, PSA automobiles 62 |
