Taiwan's Patent Applications Drop in 2013 on Economic Downturn

Invention-patent applications from both overseas and local organizations dropped in  number in Taiwan last year, with the applications from local organizations falling the most in 10 years of 5.84% year on year, according to the Intelligence Property Office (IPO) of the Ministry of Economic Affairs (MOEA), which blames such  decrease mostly to global economic downturn.

Nevertheless, applications for design patents from the United States, South Korea, and Japan surged considerably in the meantime. The office categorizes patents into design, utility, and invention.

The office dealt with 83,211 patent applications in 2013, slipping 2.2% from a year earlier due chiefly to decreased applications for utility and invention patents. Design-patent applications rose 8.73%

Last year, local organizations submitted 21,730 invention-patent applications while foreign organizations delivered 27.488 applications for the patents, declining 5.48% and 2.22%, respectively, from 2012.

The top five overseas applicants for the island’s invention patents were from Japan, the United States, South Korea, China, and Germany. South Korean organizations were the only foreign applicants registering growth whereas German and mainland Chinese organizations marked a 10.5% and 8.53% year-on-year decline, respectively, in the applications.

IPO’s statistics show that the number of invention-patent applications from local organizations has fluctuated after rising past 20,000 cases in 2005 and past 10,000 cases for the first time in 2003.

Applications for design patents from foreign organizations surged considerably in 2013, with applications from Japanese organizations soaring 16.2% year on year to 1,428 submissions, applications from the United States rising to 795 submissions from 2012’s 543, and applications from South Korean organizations surging to 321 cases from 114 a year ago. In the meantime, the applications from local organizations increased merely 2.7%.

Citing the considerable application growth from foreign organizations, IPO officials feel that organizations from the United States, Japan, and South Korea are vigorously seeking patents in Taiwan.

Among foreign organizations of handheld devices, Apple and Samsung submitted the largest number and second largest number of invention-patent applications in Taiwan, respectively, last year. Apple delivered 410 applications, soaring 50.2% from 2012, while Samsung forwarded 221 applications, 50.3% more than it did in 2012.

HTC Corp., Taiwan’s No.1 brand-name supplier of handset devices, submitted 225 applications on the island for invention patents last year, decreasing 3% from 2012. (KL)

Top-5 local and foreign applicants of Taiwan patents in Q4, 2013

Ranking	Local applicant		Foreign applicant
	Company	Submission number	Company	Submission number
1	Hon Hai	678	Nvidia	211
2	ITRI	277	Intel	133
3	Inventec	201	Qualcomm	116
4	TSMC	156	Samsung	114
5	Wistron	155	Nitto Denko	100

Source: IPO