Taiwan continues to modernize its intellectual property (IP) framework through a series of procedural reforms and legislative initiatives aimed at enhancing examination efficiency, strengthening international cooperation and exchange, and responding promptly to evolving industry demands. The Taiwan Intellectual Property Office (TIPO) recently released its 2025 Annual Report, which showed sustained growth in invention patent filings and a record high in trademark applications, reflecting the continued advancement of Taiwan’s industrial innovation and emerging technologies.

1. AI-Driven Digital Transformation and Optimized Patent Examination Procedural for Strategic Industries

In 2025, TIPO introduced optimized examination initiatives and deployed digital tools to optimize examination workflows and administrative efficiency. A significant milestone was the implementation of the “Collaborative Examination Mechanism for Patent Reexamination” targeting the government-designated “Five Trusted Industries”, namely semiconductors, artificial intelligence, defense, security and surveillance, and next-generation communications technologies. This initiative is intended to ensure greater consistency and quality in examination standards.

In parallel, TIPO has actively advanced the digitalization of the patent examination environment by progressively establishing online examination mechanisms for patent corrections, patent gazette management, and related procedures. TIPO has also enhanced its global patent search system through the integration of literature mining functions and image-based search services for domestic design patents, thereby further improving the efficiency and sophistication of the existing patent examination infrastructure.

2. Record-High IP Filings and Strategic Positioning by Enterprises

Although the total number of patent applications, including invention/utility model/design applications, slightly declined by 1.1% to 71,965 filings, applications relating to core innovative technologies continued to demonstrate steady growth. Invention patent applications increased by 0.8% to 51,230 filings, with foreign corporate applicants accounting for the majority of applications at 31,719 cases, compared with 19,511 filings submitted by domestic applicants.

Meanwhile, trademark application filings (calculated on a per-application basis) reached a record high of 97,411 applications, representing an annual increase of 7.8%. On a class-count basis, trademark filings further increased by 10.4% to 124,242 classes.

With respect to corporate filing rankings, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC) ranked first among domestic entities with 1,485 invention patent applications, followed by AUO Corporation with 397 filings and Hon Hai Precision Industry Co., Ltd. with 340 filings. Among foreign corporate applicants, Applied Materials led with 1,088 invention patent applications, followed by Tokyo Electron with 773 filings and Samsung Electronics with 741 filings.

In the trademark sector, Uni-President Enterprises Corporation ranked first among domestic applicants with 923 filings, followed by Fubon Life Insurance with 630 filings and TSG Sports Marketing with 209 filings. Among foreign applicants, Pop Mart ranked first with 194 trademark applications, followed by JYP Entertainment with 146 filings and China applicant Huang Cheng-Fang with 101 filings.

From a regional perspective, Japan continued to rank first in invention patent applications filed by foreign applicants in Taiwan, while mainland China demonstrated substantial growth in trademark filings, leading foreign applicants with 5,802 trademark classes. The significant increase in trademark applications—particularly from consumer-oriented enterprises and digital entertainment brands—reflects an intensifying trend among international businesses to secure commercial assets in the Taiwan market. Consumer electronics and retail enterprises should therefore act promptly to register their trademarks in order to mitigate the risk of bad-faith trademark squatting in this high-volume commercial market.

3. AI Examination Guidelines, Digital Designs, and NFT-Related Regulations

To address emerging digital paradigms, TIPO implemented significant regulatory reforms in 2025. TIPO published the “AI-Related Invention Case Compilation,” which provides guidance on drafting practices and examination standards, including explanations regarding the definition of inventions, enablement requirements, and inventive step assessments for AI-related patent applications. These guidelines enable applicants to more accurately understand and navigate Taiwan’s AI patent examination principles.

On the legislative front, proposed amendments to certain provisions of the Patent Act expand the scope of protection by permitting computer-generated icons (Icons) and graphical user interfaces (GUIs) to be independently eligible for design patent protection. The amendments also extend the grace period for design patents from six months to twelve months. In parallel, the Trademark Examination Guidelines have been updated to incorporate classification principles for digital goods authenticated by Non-Fungible Tokens (NFTs) and virtual goods used within metaverse environments.

These structural reforms reflect Taiwan’s efforts to respond to the rapid evolution of digital technologies while aligning with international trends toward enhanced design protection. Software developers, Metaverse platform architects, and digital asset creators are now positioned to secure broader and more flexible protection for interactive designs and digital interfaces. Furthermore, the allowable period for requesting deferred substantive examination and continuation examination for invention patents has been extended from three years to five years, while the corresponding period for design patents has been expanded from one year to two years. These changes provide biotechnology companies and start-ups with greater procedural flexibility, enabling them to better align prosecution strategies with lengthy research and development cycles.

4. Conclusion

The foregoing developments demonstrate Taiwan’s commitment to modernizing its intellectual property regime and strengthening its international competitiveness. By reducing the average first-action pendency period for invention patent examination to 13.8 months, and entering into new Patent Prosecution Highway (PPH) cooperation agreements with France and Israel, Taiwan continues to improve filing efficiency and facilitate international protection for innovative technologies.

Multinational enterprises should continue adjusting their global IP and technology deployment strategies in response to these developments, as the enhanced examination framework may shorten product commercialization timelines while reducing prosecution costs and administrative burdens. These reforms further enable applicants to maximize the benefits of Taiwan’s expanding international IP cooperation network and strengthen their competitive position in global markets.