The Taiwan Intellectual Property Office, Ministry of Economic Affairs, R.O.C. (TIPO) recently announced the 2022 Statistical Rankings for Patent Applications and Grants on February 9th. National Chung Cheng University (CCU) ranked among the top 100 in three categories: domestic patent applications, invention patent applications, and publication of granted invention patents, standing alongside leading listed companies such as TSMC, AUO, and Acer. In 2022, CCU obtained a total of 50 approved domestic and international patents, marking a growth of over 100% compared to the year 2020, and these achievements are closed related to the government’s efforts in promoting value creation.

TIPO’s 2022 Statistical Rankings for Patent Applications and Grants reveals that TSMC maintained its position as the top domestic applicants for overall patents for the seventh year in a row, filing 1,534 applications. As for foreign applicants, Applied Materials claimed the top position by submitting a total of 881 applications. With respect to the numbers of patents granted for all three patent types, TSMC led the pack for domestic applicants, and Qualcomm stood out as the most prolific foreign applicant. The top 10 domestic applicants for all three types of patents were predominantly companies active in the semiconductor, display, and ICT industry.

The patents applied for by professors at CCU also follow the same trend and expand into fields such as chemical biology and electrochemistry. Among invention patent applications, publication of granted invention patents, and patent applications, CCU claimed the position of 66th (36 cases), 80th (29 cases), and 94th (42 cases) respectively.

Dr. Hsiang-Cheng Wang, Vice President for Research and Development at CCU, expressed that the government is committed to enhancing the value of research achievements in universities, including commercialization and incubating new startups, with an aim to drive the overall economic development of the country. The government provides faculty and students with support and guidance in entrepreneurship through large-scale subsidy programs, such as the Startup Value Creation Program. In the evaluation process of this program, the research capacities, innovation levels, business models, and numbers of patents held by faculty members are considered the pivotal criteria. Since 2019, CCU has received subsidies totaling NT$72.3 million through the Startup Value Creation Program, and has generated NT$15 million in technology licensing fees from patent-based startups. It is expected that the revenue from patent licensing fees will increase by an additional NT$10 million this year. Dr. Wang said that protecting technology through patents and promoting technological innovation have become a consensus within the university for research and development and incubating startups.

Janne-Wha Wu, Director of Center of Technology Promotion at CCU, stated that CCU is taking multiple measures to effectively promote patent applications by faculty members. Other than seeking patent application subsidies to raise the willingness of teachers to apply for patents, CCU is also dedicated to enhance the overall entrepreneurial environment within the university. This includes optimizing internal regulations for innovation and entrepreneurship, fostering ongoing industry-academia collaboration, and providing guidance for the development of entrepreneurial ventures based on research and development achievements. These are all important factors driving faculty members to apply for patents. For instance, in 2022, the 5G-related technologies developed by the Center for Telecommunication Research at CCU were licensed to domestic companies in Taiwan, using the invention patents attained in other countries such as Europe, Japan, South Korea, and China, hence reaching the goal of mutual benefits between academia and industry. Office of Research and Development at CCU pointed out that to continuously leverage the value of patents and prevent future patent idleness, CCU will continue to promote the establishment of new entrepreneurial ventures and engage in technology licensing activities, with an aim to generate value from research and development outcomes.