Taiwan IP Updates  ¡V Mar 2024

By Lyndon 

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TIPO Announces Updates to the Trademark Classification for Goods and Services

The Taiwan Intellectual Property Office has made adjustments to the designated goods and services names in trademark applications in response to the latest (12th) edition of the Nice Classification list.  A total of 422 items have been added and 56 items have been deleted.  An additional 15 modifications have been made to class/subclass names or annotations, as well as 25 corrections.  The aforementioned changes took effect on January 1, 2024.  The list of designated goods/services categories and names will be updated on the online trademark filing system as well.  The official timeline of website updates will be published on the website of the TIPO Information Management Office.   Applicants wishing to use the fast-track mechanism on the online trademark filing system after January 1, 2024, will be able to download the latest updates.  This will ensure consistency between the designated goods/services names stated in the application and the content in the electronic filing system, avoiding discrepancies that could jeopardize eligibility for the fast-track mechanism, as well as associated fee reductions.

Taiwan’s TSMC Top Applicant for Patents for Eighth Year

Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co., the world’s largest contract chipmaker, applied for the most patents out of any Taiwanese entity last year for the 8th consecutive year, the Ministry of Economic Affairs announced in February.  TSMC filed 1,956 invention patent applications in 2023, which is the company’s most ever and 28% more than in 2022.  By being the largest patent applicant in Taiwan, it also drives the growth of upstream IC design and also downstream IC packaging and testing services.  The Taiwan Intellectual Property Office spokesman said that the efforts of TSMC and other technology firms to boost their patent portfolios show that Taiwan has become a hub for the global semiconductor industry.  Among foreign companies in Taiwan, Samsung Electronics Co. of South Korea was the top applicant in Taiwan in 2023 for the 1st time.  Samsung submitted 978 patent applications in Taiwan, up 45% from 2022, and 977 were for invention patents.  The second highest foreign source of patent applications was from US semiconductor equipment supplier Applied Materials with 779 applications followed by US-based smartphone IC designer Qualcomm with 639.  In 4th place was Japanese semiconductor and display production equipment supplier Tokyo Electron Ltd. with 555 applications followed by Japanese electrical product maker Nitto Denko Corp. with 478.  Amongst Taiwanese applicants, smartphone IC designer MediaTek Inc. came in 2nd with 544 applications, up 32% from 2022.  In 3rd place was flat-panel maker AUO Corp. with 460 applications, followed by PC brand Acer with 419 and Dram supplier Nanya Technology Corp. with 373.  All in all, last year patent applications by local companies grew for the 7th consecutive year with a total of 12,922, an increase of 1%, while foreign companies filed a total of 14,910 applications up 2% from last year.