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24 August 2020
From January to June 2020, the Taiwan Intellectual Property Office received 33,954 applications for invention, utility model, and design patents, marking a four percent decrease over the same period in 2019. On the other hand, the number of trademark applications hit a record high with 43,385 cases. In terms of invention patent applications, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company topped domestic applicants and Qualcomm topped foreign applicants. The applications by domestic small and medium enterprises grew by 14 percent.
One of the causes for the slight drop in patent applications is Covid-19. “Luckily, Taiwan took comprehensive precautions to prevent further spread earlier than many jurisdictions so that there is no shutdown in Taiwan and the impact of the pandemic here is not so big comparing to other places,” says Marilou Hsieh, general manager at Giant Group in Taipei. “Most business activities have remained the same and almost all companies, schools and shops are already back to normal. So even though the filings from international applicants decrease, domestic filings are not influenced a lot.”
As far as the increase of trademark applications, one of the reasons could be due to the trade war between China and the United States, Hsieh says. “We know that some companies have decided to invest more in Taiwan than before. Secondly, Taiwan has been noticed and receiving a lot more global attention due to the successful prevention on the spread of Covid-19 and the charitable move of sending medical face masks to other suffered countries. Thirdly, domestic and international applicants have become more interested than ever to invest and protect their brands and products. Last but not least, local small and medium enterprises are very sensitive and good at finding business opportunities from those affected by the pandemic.”
After seeing the big picture, let’s take a look at the nuts and bolts!
Johnny Chan
