China dominates semiconductor patent activity

beijingwalker · Feb 21, 2023

China dominates semiconductor patent activity

Technology News | February 21, 2023
By Peter Clarke

There have been 69,190 global patents for semiconductors filed in year to September 30, 2022, and 55 percent were filed by Chinese entities, according to Mathys & Squire, an intellectual property law firm.

In contrast, the UK accounted for only 179 patents or 0.26 percent of the global total.

The data compiled by the law firm reflects the growing significance of semiconductor technology to multiple geographic regions. The number of semiconductor patents has filed annually has increased by 59 percent from five years ago.

Semiconductor patents filed worldwide in the years to September 30 2017 to September 30, 2022. Source: Mathys & Squire.
China has been impacted over the last five years by export controls imposed by the United States and has put increased emphasis on innovation to reduce dependence on western technologies.

However, the largest individual filer of semiconductor patents was Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. Ltd. (TSMC), which was responsible for 4,793 patents – 7 percent of all patents worldwide.

Some 18,223 of the patents filed in the last year – 26 percent of the total – were filed in the United States. The top US filer was California-based Applied Materials Inc, with 209 patents, followed by SanDisk (50 patents) and IBM (49 patents).

“Governments are increasingly concerned about the fragility of global supply chains and are taking steps to promote semiconductor research and production domestically,” said Edd Cavanna, managing associate at Mathys & Squire, in a statement.