Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) remained the top invention patent applicant in Taiwan in the first quarter of this year, outpacing all local and foreign applicants, the Intellectual Property Office said on Thursday.
TSMC filed 752 invention patents, up 4 percent from a year earlier, marking the fourth consecutive year the chipmaker claimed the first place in the first quarter.
Patents are categorized into three groups in Taiwan: invention, design and utility model. Invention patents are considered the most important in terms of new technology ideas.
Photo: Reuters
Smartphone IC designer MediaTek Inc (聯發科) took second place among local applicants with 146 invention patent applications, up 121 percent from a year earlier, the highest rate of growth among local firms.
DRAM chip supplier Nanya Technology Corp (南亞科技) was third with 115 invention patent applications, up 17 percent from a year earlier, followed by flat-panel makers Innolux Corp (群創) and AUO Corp (友達), which filed 101 and 94 applications, up 3 percent and 7 percent respectively.
The office said it was the first time Innolux has filed more than 100 invention patent applications in a single quarter.
Rounding out the top 10 local applicants were communication network IC designer Realtek Semiconductor Corp (瑞昱半導體), with 77 applications, down 28 percent; contract notebook computer maker Inventec Corp (英業達) with 55 applications, up 17 percent; Chunghwa Telecom Co (中華電信) with 45 applications, up 50 percent, memorychip supplier Macronix International Co (旺宏電子) with 42 applications, down 9 percent; and the government-sponsored Industrial Technology Research Institute with 42 applications, up 5 percent.
Among foreign applicants, Applied Materials Inc reclaimed the top spot after nine years by filing 182 invention patent applications, down 12 percent from a year earlier. It was followed by Japanese electrical product maker Nitto Denko Corp with 176 applications, up 18 percent; US-based smartphone IC designer Qualcomm Inc with 169 applications, down 30 percent; South Korea’s Samsung Electronics Co with 166 applications, up 44 percent; and Japanese semiconductor supplier Tokyo Electron Ltd with 128 applications, down 10 percent.
In the first quarter, 12,486 invention patent applications were filed, little changed from a year earlier, the office said.
The number of invention, utility model and design patent applications totaled 17,226 in the first quarter, down 2 percent from a year earlier, it added.
Nvidia Corp CEO Jensen Huang (黃仁勳) today announced that his company has selected "Beitou Shilin" in Taipei for its new Taiwan office, called Nvidia Constellation, putting an end to months of speculation. Industry sources have said that the tech giant has been eyeing the Beitou Shilin Science Park as the site of its new overseas headquarters, and speculated that the new headquarters would be built on two plots of land designated as "T17" and "T18," which span 3.89 hectares in the park. "I think it's time for us to reveal one of the largest products we've ever built," Huang said near the
China yesterday announced anti-dumping duties as high as 74.9 percent on imports of polyoxymethylene (POM) copolymers, a type of engineering plastic, from Taiwan, the US, the EU and Japan. The Chinese Ministry of Commerce’s findings conclude a probe launched in May last year, shortly after the US sharply increased tariffs on Chinese electric vehicles, computer chips and other imports. POM copolymers can partially replace metals such as copper and zinc, and have various applications, including in auto parts, electronics and medical equipment, the Chinese ministry has said. In January, it said initial investigations had determined that dumping was taking place, and implemented preliminary
Intel Corp yesterday reinforced its determination to strengthen its partnerships with Taiwan’s ecosystem partners including original-electronic-manufacturing (OEM) companies such as Hon Hai Precision Industry Co (鴻海精密) and chipmaker United Microelectronics Corp (UMC, 聯電). “Tonight marks a new beginning. We renew our new partnership with Taiwan ecosystem,” Intel new chief executive officer Tan Lip-bu (陳立武) said at a dinner with representatives from the company’s local partners, celebrating the 40th anniversary of the US chip giant’s presence in Taiwan. Tan took the reins at Intel six weeks ago aiming to reform the chipmaker and revive its past glory. This is the first time Tan
CUSTOMERS’ BURDEN: TSMC already has operations in the US and is a foundry, so any tariff increase would mostly affect US customers, not the company, the minister said Taiwanese manufacturers are “not afraid” of US tariffs, but are concerned about being affected more heavily than regional economic competitors Japan and South Korea, Minister of Economic Affairs J.W. Kuo (郭智輝) said. “Taiwan has many advantages that other countries do not have, the most notable of which is its semiconductor ecosystem,” Kuo said. The US “must rely on Taiwan” to boost its microchip manufacturing capacities, Kuo said in an interview ahead of his one-year anniversary in office tomorrow. Taiwan has submitted a position paper under Section 232 of the US Trade Expansion Act to explain the “complementary relationship” between Taiwan and the US