Samsung Electronics Becomes 'Foreign Company with Most Patent Applications' in Taiwan Last Year

by Lee Seungjin

Published 10 Feb.2024 21:35(KST)

Last year, Samsung Electronics became the foreign company with the most patent applications in Taiwan.

On the 10th, Taiwan's Central News Agency reported, citing the announcement from Taiwan's Ministry of Economic Affairs, that Samsung Electronics topped the list of foreign companies with the most patent applications in Taiwan for the first time last year.

Samsung Electronics announced that its provisional consolidated operating profit for last year was 6.54 trillion KRW, and sales amounted to 258.16 trillion KRW. Operating profit decreased by 84.92% and sales by 4.91% compared to the same period last year. The photo shows Samsung Electronics Seocho Building in Seocho-gu, Seoul, on the 9th. Photo by Jinhyung Kang aymsdream@

Samsung Electronics filed 978 patent applications in Taiwan last year, a 45% increase compared to 2022, becoming the foreign company with the highest number of patent applications for the first time. Except for one, all were invention patents.

According to Taiwanese law, patents are classified into three types: invention, utility model, and design. Among these, invention patents are considered the most important in terms of new technology.

Following Samsung Electronics, the American semiconductor equipment company Applied Materials ranked second among foreign companies with 779 patent applications in Taiwan last year, a 12% decrease compared to 2022.

They were followed by American Qualcomm, Japanese Tokyo Electron, and Japanese Nitto Denko, while Coupang rose to fifth place with 454 applications, a 222% increase compared to 2022.

The company with the most patent applications in Taiwan last year was TSMC, Taiwan's largest foundry (semiconductor contract manufacturing) company, which filed 1,956 patents, setting a record high. It secured first place for eight consecutive years, with a 28% increase compared to 2022.

Liang Cheng-wei, Director of the Intellectual Property Office at Taiwan's Ministry of Economic Affairs, evaluated, "The efforts of TSMC and Samsung Electronics to strengthen their patent portfolios in Taiwan demonstrate that Taiwan has become a global hub for the semiconductor industry."