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.
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