TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. (TSMC) led the number of applicants for patents in 2021, the Ministry of Economic Affairs (MOEA) said Wednesday (Sept. 7).

Last year saw 49,000 patents for inventions in Taiwan, with the semiconductor sector responsible for 12.9% of the applications and seven out of 10 of the largest applicants, CNA reported. TSMC led the list, according to an analysis made by the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) and the MOEA Taiwan Intellectual Property Office (TIPO).

The number of patent applications for Taiwan was the highest since 2014, while the global total of 277,500 amounted to a record, WIPO said. The 6,360 patent applications from Taiwan’s semiconductor sector showed an increase of almost 20% from 2020, with the domain of computer technology coming second with 4,283 applications.

On a global scale, computer technology came first with 26,000 applications, but semiconductors only ranked at No. 10 with 8,346 patents, showing the importance of the sector in Taiwan, TIPO said.

Looking at corporations in Taiwan, TSMC led the list with 1,950 applications, followed by Qualcomm with 845. China’s Huawei Technologies ranked No. 1 on the global list with almost 7,000 patents, with Qualcomm also coming second with 3,931.

TIPO also looked at the local distribution of patent applications across Taiwan and came to the conclusion that Hsinchu City, known for its high-tech science and technology firms, came first with 4,711, followed by Taipei City with 3,282 and New Taipei City with more than 3,000.