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Taiwan's Companies Apply for Fewer Patents for a Fifth Quarter

2014/09/09 | By Ken Liu

According to Intellectual Property Office (IPO) of the Ministry of Economic Affairs (MOEA), the volume of patent applications submitted by Taiwanese companies declined by 8.14% in the second quarter--the fifth quarterly drop in a row.

The Hon Hai Group, the world's largest contract manufacturer of electronics products, remained the island's largest patent applicant in the second quarter; however, its applications were down 73.03% quarter-on-quarter with only 229 applications, the steepest drop in the group's history. The Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co., the world's No. 1 contract chipmaker, submitted 56 applications in the second quarter, around 60% fewer than the previous quarter.

A total of 18,618 patent applications were submitted by local organizations to the IPO in the second quarter. Among that total, 10,462 of the applications were for invention patents, a fall of 10.81% from the first quarter of this year and the lowest volume since 2009.

Senior IPO officials ascribe the all-time low application numbers mostly to a shift in emphasis from patent quantity to patent quality. The officials explain that at a time when the current business environment is not favorable, applicants are more focused on patents that are vital to their future development.

According to IPO data, among the island's top-10 industries by number of patent applications in the second quarter was the flat-panel display industry, which had three applicants: AU Optronics Corp., Wintek Corp., and Innolux Corp. Their submissions were mostly focused on patents for display, process, and touch-screen technologies, suggesting that the upbeat market for mobile display devices has compelled flat-panel display manufacturers to focus more of their R&D work on next-generation technologies.

The contraction of patent applications for the fifth quarter in a row has alarmed the IPO, which notes, nevertheless, that many foreign organizations have increased patent applications in Taiwan (although foreign applications as a whole were down 6.17% in the second quarter). The office points out that the Nitto Denko Corp. of Japan and Samsung Display Corp. and LG Chem of South Korea, the top three foreign applicants for Taiwan patents, have persistently added to the number of their patent applications in Taiwan. These three companies are among the strongest foreign competitors for Taiwanese manufacturers. (KL)

Number of Patent Applications in Taiwan, Last Six Quarters

Quarter

Submission Volume (YoY change, %)

Q1, 2013

20,097 (+3.61)

Q2

20,268 (-3.36)

Q3

20,077 (-2.71)

Q4

22,769 (-5.40)

Q1, 2014

19,543 (-2.76)

Q2

18,618 (-8.14)

Source: IPO