eeNews: China leads world’s semiconductor patent activity in 2022

(JW Insights) Feb 21 -- There have been 69,190 global semiconductor patents filed in the first nine months of 2022, and 55% were filed by Chinese entities, reported eeNews citing data from Mathys & Squire, an intellectual property law firm.

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

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, said the eeNews report.

The largest individual filer of semiconductor patents in 2022 was TSMC, responsible for 4,793 patents, 7% of all patents worldwide.

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

In contrast, the UK accounted for only 179 patents or 0.26% of the global total in 2022.

“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.

(Li PP)