According to the top 100 Taiwan patent applicants for 2024 announced by the Taiwan Intellectual Property Office (TIPO), Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC) has been the top domestic applicant for nine consecutive years. Despite the decrease of patent applications by 28%, TSMC is still ahead of other top domestic and foreign applicants. The top foreign applicant is Applied Materials, with a growth of 29%. Per the growth rate of invention applications by the top 20 domestic/foreign applicants, Hon Hai Precision (↑93%) has the highest annual growth, followed by Winbond Electronics (↑58%), Coupang (↑54%), and Panasonic IP Management (↑46%). Most top 100 foreign applicants are from Japan, US and Europe. The companies from mainland China have accounted for about 10% of the top 100 applicants, among which Huawei is the only one entering the top 20 applicants, with a growth rate of 28%. The following tables are summarized from the TIPO statistics for reference.
Number of patent applications filed by domestic and foreign applicants in 2024
| Type of Patent | Invention | Utility Model | Design | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Domestic Applicant | Enterprise | 15,531（↓1%） | 8,892（↑3%） | 2420（↑5%） |
| School | 1,642（↑3%） | 1,073（↑13%） | 165（↓13%） | |
| Research Institute | 672（↑8%） | 80（↑57%） | 8（n/a） | |
| Foreign Applicant （mainly enterprises） | 31,237（↑0.1%） | 1,218（↑5.3%） | 4,022（↑4.5%） | |
Top Domestic Applicants
| Enterprise [invention]: TSMC 1,412, Nanya Tech 466, AU Optronics 425, Innolux 328, Inventec 321, Realtek 309, Acer 277, Hon Hai Precision 259, Mediatek 239, Delta Electronics 230, United Microelectronics 221, Winbond Electronics 160, Chunghwa Telecom 159 |
| School [invention]: National Cheng Kung University 121, National Taiwan University 98, National Yang Ming Chiao Tung University 91, National Tsing Hua University 83 |
| Research Institute [invention]: Industrial Technology Research Institute 356, Metal Industries Research & Development Centre 93, Taiwan Textile Research Institute 40 |
Top Foreign Applicants
| [Invention] Applied Material 950, Samsung Electronics 894, Coupang 698, Tokyo Electron 661, Qualcomm 660, Nitto Denko 417, ASML Netherlands 344, Shin-Etsu Chemical 279, Lam Research 276, Screen Holdings 253, Fujifilm 249, Kioxia 221, Sumitomo Chemical 213, Panasonic IP Management 194, Fanuc 193, Huawei 184 |
| [Design] Apple 115 (also IN 58), Ford Global Tech 104, BMW 92, China Wonderland Nurserygoods 91, Zhejiang Smart Intelligence Tech 83, Harry Winston 79, Wonderland Switzerland 69 (also IN 167/UM 2), Beijing Roborock Tech 66 (also IN 32/UM 42), Molex 64 (also IN 66/UM 6), Fisher & Paykel Healthcare 58 (also IN 20) |
| IN: Invention UM: Utility Model DE: Design |
