In the second quarter of 2024, the TIPO received a total of 17,683 applications for invention, utility model, and design. Of these, the number of invention patent applications was 11,988, marking a slight increase of 2.1% from the same period last year. The number of utility model patent applications (3,766) and design patent applications (1,929) remained steady. The number in applications for the three types of patents filed by resident applicants decreased by 2%, while the number of patent applications filed by non-resident applicants increased by 6%.
 
There were 4,699 invention patent applications filed by resident applicants, of which 3,734 were filed by enterprises. Among the top ten applicants for invention patent applications, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC) ranked first with 308 applications, followed by Nanya Technology Corporation with 136 applications, AU Optronics Corporation with 114 applications, Inventec Corporation with 90 applications, Innolux Corporation with 80 applications, Acer Incorporated with 74 applications, Realtek Semiconductor Corporation with 70 applications, United Microelectronics Corporation with 65 applications, MediaTek with 49 applications, and Delta Electronics with 45 applications. Particularly, TSMC has been ranked first for the eighth consecutive year in the second quarter.
 
Among the top five resident applicants for design patent applications, Shu-Te University took the lead with 22 applications, followed by L&F PLASTICS, Co., Ltd. with 16 applications, Compal Electronics with 15 applications and Tong Yah Electronics Co., Ltd. with 14 applications. The top five was completed by Delta Electronics (13 applications) and Vanung University (13 applications).
 
A total of 7,289 invention patent applications were filed by non-resident applicants. Among the top ten non-resident applicants, Applied Materials (US) filed 208 applications, returning to the first place. Others include Samsung Electronics (KR) (202 applications), Qualcomm (US) (191 applications), Tokyo Electron (JP) (128 applications), Coupang Corporation (KR) (108 applications), Screen Holding Co., Ltd. (JP) (90 applications), Nitto Denko Corporation (JP) (90 applications), Shin-Etsu Chemical Co., Ltd. (JP) (73 applications), Lam Research Corporation (US) (69 applications) and ASML (NL) (67 applications). Among the top five countries (regions), Japan continues to lead the way with 2,726 applications in total, followed by the United States (1,696 applications), Mainland China (864 applications), the Republic of Korea (677 applications) and Germany (255 applications). Compared with the same period last year, applications from Mainland China and Germany respectively rose by 13% and 12%, while applications filed by Korean applicants fell by 4%.
 
A total of 1,074 design patent applications were filed by non-resident applicants. Among the top five non-resident applicants, smart Automobile Co., Ltd. (CN) ranked first place with 72 applications, followed by Ford Global Technologies (US) (48 applications), Bayerische Motoren Werke Aktiengesellschaft (BMW, DE) (34 applications), Molex Incorporated (US) (29 applications) and Wonderland Nurserygoods Co., Ltd. (CN) (29 applications). Of these, smart Automobile Co., Ltd. entered the top five for the first time. Among the top five countries (regions), Japan topped the list with 248 applications, followed by the United States (234 applications), Mainland China (223 applications), the Switzerland (97 applications) and Germany (75 applications). Compared with the same period last year, the applicants from Japan, the United States, Mainland China and Germany all saw growth in their filings and increased by 19%, 119%, 53% and 79%, respectively. However, applications filed by Swiss applicants fell by 15%.
 
A total of 23,885 trademark applications (covering 29,387 classes) were received by the TIPO, an increase of 3% compared with the same period last year. The number of applications filed by resident applicants (18,324 applications) slightly decreased, while the number of applications filed by non-resident applicants (5,561 applications) increased.
 
Among the top ten resident applicants, Shen-Bian Matzu ranked first with 131 applications. A breakdown by Nice classification shows that resident applicants filed the most applications (3,518 applications) in Class 35, “Advertising; business management, organization and administration; office functions.”
 
On the other hand, the largest number of non-resident trademark applications was from Mainland China with 1,528. Among the top ten non-resident applicants, Full Comfort Co.,Ltd (VG) ranked first with 68 applications. In addition, non-resident applicants filed the most applications (1,021 applications) in Class 9, “Computer and Technology Products, etc.”
 
Among the trademark applications received by the TIPO, “Agriculture” (6,172 applications) ranked first among all industry categories, followed by “Health” (4,728 applications) and “Business services” (4,661 applications). Resident applicants were more active in applications under “Agriculture” (5,096 applications), the majority of which were for restaurant and accommodation industries. By contrast, most applications by non-resident applicants were filed under “Research and technology” (1,605 cases). Moreover, both resident and non-resident applicants saw growth in their filings under “Health,” and the number of applications under “Clothing and accessories” filed by non-resident applicants increased by 27%.
 
 
(Translated and summarized from the Hot News announced on the website of the TIPO)