TIPO releases statistics of top 100 patent applicants and grants for 2023

　TIPO released the statistical rankings for patent applications and patent grants in 2023.  By filing a total of 1,956 applications throughout 2023, TSMC maintained its unshakable top position as the most prolific resident applicant for eight consecutive years for overall patent applications, while Samsung Electrics of the Republic of Korea won the crown as the top non-resident applicant for the first time with 978 applications; both TSMC and Samsung hit their respective record high in patent application numbers.  As to the number of grants for overall patent applications, TSMC and Applied Materials each took the lead as the top resident applicant and the top non-resident applicant with 1,040 grants and 591 grants, respectively.  

　In particular, TSMC has been remaining at the top position in overall patent applications for eight straight years since 2016.  In 2023, TSMC had filed 1,956 invention patent applications, which marked a 28% growth.  Among the top 10 applicants, TSMC, MediaTek (ranking 2^nd with 544 applications), and Nanya Tech (ranking 5^th with 373 applications) reached their all-time highs for overall patent applications.  In addition to the three companies, Inventec filed a total of 330 applications to come in 6^th, which marks a 14% increase and hits its 10-year high.  With a total of 270 applications which grew by 32%, Telta Electronics ranked 10th and scaled its 15-year high.  

　Throughout 2023, the top 100 resident applicants filed a total of 12,922 applications for overall three kinds of patents, attaining a 1% rise and a 7^th consecutive year growth.  Among the overall applications, invention patent applications totaled 9,982 cases, up 4%, while the numbers of utility model patent applications and design patent applications saw a 6% and 16% decline, respectively, with 2,273 cases and 667 cases.  

Taiwan Cooperative Bank surpassed its peers to be the top applicant for both overall patent applications and invention patent applications

　There were six banks broke into the top 100 applicants for overall patent applications.  Among them, Taiwan Cooperative Bank beat its peers to secure the top honor for the 2^nd straight year with 223 applications, setting the highest record of patent applications filed by banks, closely followed by MEGA International Commercial Bank with 195 filings and CTBC Bank with 144 filings.  Moreover, Taiwan Cooperative Bank also topped the list of invention patent applications by 35 filings among local banks.  

Taipei City University of Science and Technology took the top spot in overall patent applications, while National Cheng Kung University topped the filing of invention patents 

　There were twenty-four schools among the top 100 applicants for overall patent applications, among which Taipei City University of Science and Technology stayed at the top position for four consecutive years with 140 applications mostly for utility model patents.  Meanwhile, National Cheng Kung University preceded its peers in invention patent applications by 114 filings, trailed by National Tsing Hua University with 98 filings, National Yang Ming Chiao Tung University with 91 filings.  Notably, National Chinyi University of Technology, which ranked 4^th with 88 filings for invention patents, was the top applicant among technology universities.  

ITRI sat comfortably at the top position for overall patent applications for 23 consecutive years.

　There were 3 research institutes made their appearance in the top 100 applicants for overall patent applications.  The Industrial Technology Research Institute (ITRI) was one of them to rank 8^th with 315 applications and to top the ranking of research institute applicants for 23 years in a row since 2001.  The other research institutes among the top 100 applicants included Metal Industries Research & Development Centre, which finished 34^th with 101 applications, and Taiwan Textile Research Institute, which came in at 90^th with 42 applications.  

Samsung Electronics led among non-resident patent applicants for the first time

　For the non-resident applicants, Samsung Electronics topped the ranking of overall patent applications with 978 filings for the first time, up 45%.  Following closely were Applied Materials with 779 applications and Qualcomm with 639 applications.  The following top 10 non-resident applicants scaled record highs in overall patent applications; they are Samsung Electronics, Japan-based Tokyo Electron, which ranked 4^th with 555 filings, Korea-based Coupang Corporation, which ranked 6^th with 454 filings, ASML Netherlands, which ranked 7^th with 309 filings, and US-based Lam Research, which finished 10^th with 264 filings.  

　To sum up, the top 100 non-resident applicants had collectively filed a total of 14,910 patent applications, up 2%.  13,350 out of 14,910 applications were filed for invention patents, while 185 applications of them were for utility model patents, which reflected a 2% growth in the filings of both kinds of applications.  Design patent applications even rose by 5% by 1,375 applications.  (Released 2024.02.06)  
/CCS