Patent Amendments ©(Part II of II)

Taiwan IP Updates ĄV April 2025

By Lyndon

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Taiwan Expected to See AI Patent Growth

Taiwan’s semiconductor industry is expected to post annual growth of 16.2% to top NT 6 trillion dollars in production value for the first time, driven by artificial intelligence (AI) and high-performance computing devices according to the Industrial Technology Research Institute. That would mean that Taiwan would continue to outgrow the global semiconductor industry, which is estimated to climb 11.2% to NT 697.9 billion dollars in 2025. The production value of the local semiconductor industry is expected to rise to NT 6.17 trillion dollars this year, compared with NT 5.31 trillion dollars last year, which was up 22.4% year on year, the institute said, adding that Taiwan would be an innovator as well as a beneficiary of the AI boom. Taiwan’s top-ranking invention patent applicant, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. (TSMC), is set to outpace all other semiconductor companies by growing production value by 20.1% to NT 3.89 trillion, accounting for 63% of the semiconductor industry’s total output. TSMC said in February that its revenue this year would grow at an annual rate of 25% on robust AI demand and demand for advanced 3-nanometer and 2-nanometer chips. Chip designers, led by smartphone chip designer MediaTek Inc., followed with production value estimated to grow 11.3% to NT 1.41 trillion dollars this year, marking a second straight year of growth. Memorychip makers are to grow production value by 6.3% this year to NT 186.7 billion dollars, but this segment is expected to suffer from an annual decline of 13.3% this quarter, marking a second consecutive quarter of contraction. Also, the production value of chip packagers is to rise 8.9% this year to NT 460.8 billion, while chip testers are to post 9.6% growth to NT 219.5 billion dollars. Finally, ASE Technology Holding Co., the world’s biggest provider of chip packaging and testing, gave an optimistic revenue growth forecast for its advanced packaging and testing services this year due to rising demand.

Taiwan Patent and Trademark Applications in 2024

In 2024, the Taiwan Intellectual Property Office received a total of 72,742 patent applications, roughly the same as 2023. Of these, invention patents (50,823) experienced a slight decrease, utility model patents (14,559) experienced a positive turnaround, while design patents (7,360) continued growing. Trademark applications (90,341) experienced a slowed decrease. Regarding examination efficiency, the average first action pendency was 8.4 months for invention patent applications and 6.1 months for trademark applications. Domestically, in 2024, invention patent applications (19,586) decreased by 0.2%, while utility model applications (13,341) increased slightly by 0.2%. By applicant type, invention patent applications decreased by 1% but utility model applications increased by 3% for domestic industries, showing diverse patent portfolio strategies. Invention patent applications from domestic universities and research institutes surged by 3-8%, and utility model applications by 13-57%. Design applications (3,338) were down by 3%, mainly due to decreases in filings from universities, while those from enterprises rose by 5%. Foreign invention patent applications (31,237) rose by just 0.1% in 2024. A breakdown by applicant nationality shows Japan maintaining its lead with 12,307 applications, followed by the US (6,817), China (3,472), South Korea (3,365) and Germany (1,035). South Korea and Germany had the highest growth rate at 8%, while the US rose by 1%. Japan and China, however, fell by 2% and 9% respectively. Non-resident applications for design patents increased by 4% to 4,022 applications last year. Japan took the top place with 880 applications, followed by the US (772), China (755), Switzerland (370), and Germany (241). China saw a sharp increase of 61%, while Germany rose by 1%. However, Japan, the US, and Switzerland all fell by 6%. The number of trademark applications stood at 90,341 (covering 112,534 classes – a 2% decrease from the previous year) in 2024, marking a decrease by 1%, smaller than the drop (-3%) in 2023. Notably, there was a 4% decrease in resident applications (69,386), while non-resident applications experienced a turnaround by rising 7% (20,955). For the sixth year in a row, Uni-President remained as the top resident trademark applicant with 709 applications in 2024. Momo.com (216) was second. Regarding non-resident applicants, Tencent Holdings of the Cayman Islands was the leader with 146 applications, followed by L’Oreal of France (86) and Kao of Japan (81).

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