Hon Hai Technology Group (鴻海集團), also known as Foxconn Technology Group (富士康科技集團), yesterday said it has secured more than 54,200 invention patents around the world, of which 62.5 percent were granted in the US and Japan.
On its Web site, Hon Hai, the world’s largest electronics manufacturer, which assembles iPhones and iPads for Apple Inc, said it has received 17,600 patents in the US, or 32.5 percent of the total, and 16,200 patents in Japan, or about 30 percent.
Hon Hai has also acquired more than 11,200 and 5,620 patents in China and Taiwan respectively.
Photo: screen grab from Facebook
About 17 percent of the patents obtained by Hon Hai was in the area of computer accessories, and 14 percent in semiconductors, it said.
Patents related to processing and detection technologies accounted for 13 percent of the total, followed by 12 percent in the field of robots and optoelectronics equipment, and 11 percent in display equipment, it said.
Hon Hai in November submitted an intellectual property management plan to its board of directors, stressing its resolve to focus on “quality, quantity and multi functions” and play a key role in technology when it comes to patent strategy.
In related news, Hon Hai is to gradually resume operations at a plant in India that makes iPhones, as it begins to address workers’ protests over substandard living conditions.
The company is to open the complex in stages as improved dormitories are ready. It has implemented a system to ensure workers can voice their complaints in future, anonymously if need be, the company said in a statement yesterday.
Hon Hai last month shut the factory on the outskirts of Chennai in southern India after workers turned out in force to protest a mass food-poisoning incident, at one point blocking a major highway. The episode drew attention to the plight of blue-collar workers and triggered local government scrutiny.
Apple yesterday said that the plant remains on probation, but that workers would begin returning as it ensures dining and living facility standards are met.
Hon Hai has pledged to revamp its Indian management team and operations in the wake of the Chennai protest, and the Tamil Nadu government said the company had agreed to expand living areas, upgrade bathing facilities and provide drinking water.
Additional reporting by Bloomberg
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