TIPO releases patent and trademark statistics and Top 100 patent applicants in 2018
2019/03/06 Taiwan• Date Posted：2019-03-06
In 2018, TIPO received 47,429 applications for invention patents, an annual increase of 3% and a second-year consecutive growth; 8,082 applications for design patents, which are just about the same from last year, and 17,910 for utility models, making a drop of 8%.
By citizenship of applicants, Taiwanese nationals filed 39,278 applications, marking a 4% year-on-year decrease; while foreigners filed 34,143 ones, a 4% increase compared to the previous year.
As to Taiwanese nationals, there were 18,365 applications for invention patents, marking a 1% increase. Also, there were 4,252 applications and 16,661 applications for design patents and utility patents, representing a 1% and a 9% decrease respectively. Japan topped the list with 14,169 applications, followed by the US (7,345) and mainland China (3,506).
Among the top 100 patent corporate applications, the Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. has topped the list for three years. The number of its applications has been growing since 2015, breaking a record-high in 2018. AU Optronics Corp. secures the second place with 586 applications. As to foreign companies, Qualcomm championed with 1,011 applications. This is not only a 67% year-on-year increase for the company but also marks the most significant growth among the top 10 patent corporate applicants. Alibaba Group Holding Limited withdrew to the second place with 599 applications.
Looking at the structure of the top 100 patent applicants, corporates provide the main momentum in R&D. The numbers of applications for invention patents, utility patents, and design patents have all increased, at 2%, 7%,and 53% annually. As to academia, their numbers of applications for invention and design patents have also grown, at 5% and 26% annually, although that of utility patents decreased by 2%. For research insititutions, the application numbers for invention patents decreased by 5%.
In terms of trademarks, TIPO received 84,816 applications, marking a 1% year-on-year increase – the highest in 18 years. Taiwanese nationals filed 59,840 applications, just 2% less than the previous year. Foreign nationals filed 24,976 applications, 11% more than the previous year. The three main countries of application are: mainland China (5,770 applications, 19% more than the previous year) which steadily remains at the top, Japan (4,728 applications, 21% more than the previous year), and the US (4,187 applications, 14% more than the previous year).
In addition, TIPO has acquired significant results in accelerated examination. On average, it took 9 months for an applicant to receive an Office Action (OA) and 14 months to receive examination results of an invention patent case in 2018. As to trademarks, the time periods were respectively 5 months and 7 months. Both the numbers of invention patent and trademark applications pendency were lowered to roughly 46,000. This shows that TIPO has effectively assisted applicants and companies in their patent portfolio layouts.
Intellectual Property Office Ministry of Economic Affairs, R.O.C.
