Trend and comparison between WIPO PCT filings and TIPO invention patent applications in 2024

　On November 17, 2025, TIPO published the “Comparative Analysis of 2024 Patent Filings Trends between the WIPO and TIPO” (the “Analysis”).  According to the Analysis, throughout 2024, WIPO had received around 273,900 PCT (Patent Cooperation Treaty) invention patent applications, a marginal increase of 0.5% from 2023, while TIPO had received a total of 50,823 invention patent filings which is roughly the same as the previous year and indicates Taiwan’s stable and solid innovation capacity and steady growth in R&D activity.  

1.  China and Taiwan nationals are the top filers of WIPO patent filings and TIPO filings, respectively.  

　In 2024, China was still the most active applicant of PCT filings with 70,160 applications with WIPO, followed by the U.S. (54,087 filings), Japan (48,397), South Korea (23,851), and Germany (16,721).  China saw its slight growth by 0.9%, while South Korea marked its highest annual increase by 7.1%.  On the contrary, the U.S., Japan, and Germany experienced their declines by 1.2%~2.8%.  

　At TIPO, Taiwan nationals filed the most invention patent applications with 19,586 filings, ahead of Japan (12,307 filings), the U.S. (6,817), China (3,472), South Korea (3,365), and Germany (1,035).  Filings by Taiwan nationals remained constant (-0.2%), while those from Japan and China moved down by 1.6% and 8.8%, respectively.  By contrast, the filings from the U.S., South Korea, and Germany rose by 1.3%~8.5%.  

2.  Digital Communications is the top technical field for the invention patent applications filed with WIPO and Semiconductors remained No. 1 at TIPO.  

　In 2024, Digital Communications became the largest technical field among WIPO PCT filings, accounting for 10.5% of the laid-open applications and preceding the fields of Computer Technology (9.7%) and Electrical Machinery, Apparatus, and Energy (8.6%).  From 2022 through 2024, the shares of filings for Digital Communications rose from 8.3% to 10.5%, which reflects applicants’ active global patent deployment.  The similar growth occurred in the field of Electrical Machinery, Apparatus, and Energy with a rapid rise from 6.6% to 8.6%, which signals the growing trend of cross-industry technological convergence.  In addition, the filings for Computer Technology grew from 9.2% in 2020 to 10.4% in 2022 but gradually declined to 9.7% in 2024.  

　At TIPO, the field of Semiconductors stayed on top with a 15.1% share in 2024, trailed by the fields of Computer Technology (8.2%) and Electrical Machinery, Apparatus, and Energy (6.8%).  From 2022 through 2024, there was a leap in the share of the filings for Semiconductors from 11.9% to 15.1%, which underscores Taiwan’s significant role in the global semiconductor supply chain.  However, the filings for Computer Technology decreased from 9.9% to 8.2%, while Electrical Machinery, Apparatus, and Energy experienced a modest growth.  The foregoing points to a need for closer attention to patent strategies in emerging fields such as AI and energy.

3.  Major countries (regions) focus on the fields of Digital Communications, Computer Technology, and Electrical Machinery, Apparatus, and Energy at WIPO and their TIPO filings heavily rest on the field of Semiconductors.  

　In 2024, China and South Korea concentrated their WIPO filings primarily in the field of Digital Communications, with 18% and 13.3% of their filings recorded in this field, while the U.S. placed their emphasis (12.6%) on the field of Computer Technology, which accounted for the largest share of the country’s patent activity.  Meanwhile, Japan and Germany focused most heavily on the field of Electrical Machinery, Apparatus, and Energy, which accounted for 11.9% and 12.1% of their respective filings.  Moreover, China, the U.S., Japan, and South Korea all largely increased their respective filings in the field of Digital Communications in 2024 compared with 2023, which indicates the substantial breakthrough in communication technologies and the intensified global competition in this field.  On the other hand, China recorded the largest growth in the field of Electrical Machinery, Apparatus, and Energy, which reflects the country’s active patent deployment in the battery and energy-related technologies.  

　In Taiwan, Semiconductors is the leading field for the filings from Taiwan (at 15.7%), China (at 10.5%), the U.S. (at 14.6%), Japan (at 15.4%), and South Korea (at 29.1%), while Germany diverged from this pattern by placing emphasis on the field of Basic Materials Chemistry which stood at 8.8% of its TIPO filings.  Overall, in 2024, the share of the U.S.’ and South Korea’s filings in the field of Semiconductors rose, compared with 2023.  On the contrary, China’s filings in this field declined, while filings from resident applicants and from Japan in the same field remained relatively stable.  In addition, China recorded a higher share of applications in the field of Computer Technology but a lower share in the field of Pharmaceuticals.  The U.S. showed an opposite pattern; the proportion of its filings in the field of Computer Technology decreased, while the proportion of the filings in Pharmaceuticals grew.  Such difference underscores the countries’ different patent deployment priorities.  

4.  Huawei is the top filer of WIPO PCT filings and TSMC leads in TIPO filings. 

　In 2024, among the top 10 PCT invention patent applicants at WIPO, Huawei in China ranked 1st with 6,600 filings.  Samsung of South Korea ranked 2nd with 4,640 filings, followed by Qualcomm in the 3rd place with 3,848 filings.  China-based Xiaomi Mobile cracked the top 10 with 1,889 filings.  In terms of growth, Samsung and Xiaomi Mobile registered their most significant growths among the top 10 applicants with their filings rising by 18.2% and 17.8%, respectively.  Japan’s Mitsubishi Electric experienced a 9.1% decline. 

　At TIPO, TSMC held on to the top position with 1,279 filings, preceding Samsung submitting 1,013 applications and Applied Materials submitting 864 applications.  The Netherlands’ ASML entered Taiwan’s top 10 applicants for the first time with 355 applications.  The analysis of growth trends reveals that South Korea’s Coupang recorded the most notable increase by 85.4%, and ASML and Samsung also exhibited strong growth by 37.6% and 35.6%, respectively.  TSMC, on the contrary, experienced a fall in applications by 19.2%.  

5.  WIPO and Taiwan applicants concentrate on the fields of Digital Communications and Semiconductors, respectively. 

　Digital Communications is the dominant technical field of the top 10 PCT applicants’ filings in 2024; companies such as Huawei Technologies of China, Samsung Electronics of South Korea, Qualcomm of the U.S., LG Electronics of South Korea, Xiaomi Mobile of China, and LM Ericsson of Sweden concentrated their filings in Digital Communications, with the proportions of filings in this field ranging from 32.2% to 89.9%. respectively.  It is notably that Xiaomi Mobile and LM Ericsson had nearly 90% of their respective applications concentrated in the top three technical fields, which indicates their highly focused portfolio strategies.  However, their respective shares in this field, 89.9% of Xiaomi Mobile and 63% of LM Ericsson, reflect their different approaches to patent portfolio strategies

　At TIPO, the applicants, including TSMC, Samsung Electronics, Applied Materials, Tokyo Electron Limited, and Nanya Technology Corp. focused their filings heavily in the field of Semiconductors, with the shares ranging from 43.3% to 79.9%.  Among them, TSMC and Nanya Technology each had over 90% of their filings concentrated in the top three technical fields; TSMC allocated 91.4% of its filings to the top three technical fields, while Nanya Technology recorded an even higher 93.7%, which shows a strong concentration in the field of Semiconductors.  Moreover, Coupang Corp of South Korea also recorded a high concentration (96.7%) of its filings in the field of Information Management Methods, which highlights a different patenting allocation.  (Released 2025.11.17)  
/CCS