Taiwan’s Intellectual Property Office has released IP registration figures and trends for the third quarter of 2014.

Total patent applications have dropped 4.28%, but at a slower rate than the previous quarter. Even though pending invention applications from both international and domestic panel, semiconductor and computer manufacturers is still relatively high, the TIPO reports that the total number of applications has fallen from the previous quarter to under 110,000 cases. Trademark applications are stable however, having grown 1.40% this quarter.

A total of 19,218 new applications were made in the third quarter, of which 11,150 came from Taiwan. Of those 11,150 applications, 4,617 were invention patents. The TIPO speculates that a drop in applications made by industry leader Hon Hai Precision Industry Co. (the single largest patent applicant in the country) is due to changes in their application procedure. Hon Hai’s applications are down 70% year on year.

Invention patents filed from abroad include Japan (3,115 applications), the United States (1,619 applications), South Korea (508 applications), China (374 applications) and Germany (300 applications). Design application figures are largely the same year on year, with Japan, the United States, Switzerland, Sweden and Germany making up the majority of the 884 applications made.
19,574 trademark applications were made, of which 5,236 were made by foreign parties. The most trademark applications came from the United States, Japan and China.

The TIPO also notes that applications from both foreign and domestic technology companies are comparatively strong. Firms that have filed applications this quarter include familiar brands such as LG, Microsoft, Acer, Fuji, AU Optronics and Hewlett Packard.

The full report is available on the TIPO’s website in Chinese here.