In 2024, WIPO received approximately 273,900 PCT invention patent applications, a slight increase of 0.5% from 2023. Taiwan received 50,823 invention patent filings—roughly the same as the previous year—indicating stable domestic innovation and steady R&D activity. For WIPO and Taiwan respectively, the leading published-application fields were Digital Communication and Semiconductors.

China (WIPO) and Taiwanese applicants (Taiwan) remain the top filers

At WIPO, China continued to lead globally with 70,160 PCT filings, followed by the United States (54,087), Japan (48,397), South Korea (23,851), and Germany (16,721). China saw modest growth (+0.9%), while South Korea recorded the highest increase among major economies (+7.1%). The United States, Japan, and Germany all recorded declines of 1.2–2.8%.

In Taiwan, domestic applicants remained the largest group with 19,586 filings, followed by Japan (12,307), the United States (6,817), China (3,472), South Korea (3,365), and Germany (1,035). Domestic filings were stable (-0.2%), while Japan and China declined (-1.6% and -8.8%). U.S., S. Korean, and German filings increased by 1.3–8.5%.

Digital Communication ranks first at WIPO; Semiconductors remain dominant in Taiwan

At WIPO, Digital Communication became the largest technical field in 2024, accounting for 10.5% of published applications—surpassing Computer Technology (9.7%) and Electrical Machinery, Apparatus, Eenergy (8.6%).

From 2020 to 2024, Digital Communication’s share rose steadily from 8.3% to 10.5%, reflecting intensified global patent portfolio deployment.

Electrical Machinery, Apparatus, Energy also grew from 6.6% to 8.6%, highlighting cross-disciplinary innovation trends. In contrast, Computer Technology peaked in 2022 (10.4%) and then gradually declined to 9.7% in 2024.

In Taiwan, Semiconductors remained the top field, accounting for 15.1% of filings, followed by Computer Technology (8.2%) and Electrical Machinery, Apparatus, Energy (6.8%).

From 2020 to 2024, the semiconductor share grew from 11.9% to 15.1%, underscoring Taiwan’s central role in the global semiconductor supply chain.

Computer Technology declined from 9.9% to 8.2%, while growth in Electrical Machinery, Apparatus, Energy was comparatively modest, suggesting Taiwan must continue strengthening its patent deployment in emerging fields such as AI and energy technologies.

Major Countries (Regions) focus on Digital Communication, Computer Technology, and Electrical Machinery/Energy at WIPO; Most focus on Semiconductors in Taiwan

At WIPO, the dominant technical field for China (18.0%) and South Korea (13.3%) was Digital Communication. The U.S. focused on Computer Technology (12.6%), while and Japan (11.9%) and Germany (12.1%) concentrated on Electrical Machinery, Apparatus, Energy.

In 2024, China, the United States, Japan, and South Korea all increased filings in Digital Communication compared with 2023, indicating rapid technological breakthroughs and intensified global competition.

China recorded the largest increase in Electrical Machinery, Apparatus, Energy, reflecting strong deployment in global battery and energy-related technologies.

In Taiwan, the top field for Taiwan (15.7%), China (10.5%), the United States (14.6%), Japan (15.4%), and South Korea (29.1%) was Semiconductors.

Germany’s top field was Basic Materials Chemistry (8.8%).

Compared with 2023, the semiconductor share increased for the United States and South Korea, decreased for China, and remained relatively stable for domestic applicants and Japan.

China increased its share in Computer Technology but declined in Pharmaceuticals; the United States showed the reverse trend, increasing in Pharmaceuticals but decreasing in Computer Technology. This highlights the fact that different countries are focusing their patent strategies on different technology fields.

Huawei leads PCT filings globally; TSMC tops invention filings in Taiwan

At WIPO, Huawei led all applicants with 6,600 PCT filings, followed by Samsung Electronics (4,640) and Qualcomm (3,848). China’s Xiaomi entered the global top 10 for the first time with 1,889 filings.

Among the top 10, Samsung (+18.2%) and Xiaomi (+17.8%) recorded the strongest growth, while Mitsubishi Electric saw the largest decline (-9.1%).

In Taiwan, TSMC remained the top applicant with 1,279 filings, followed by Samsung Electronics (1,013) and Applied Materials (864).
ASML Netherlands B.V. entered Taiwan’s top 10 for the first time with 355 filings.

In terms of growth, Coupang recorded the most significant increase (+85.4%), followed by ASML Netherlands B.V. (+37.6%) and Samsung Electronics (+35.6%). TSMC’s filings decreased by 19.2% from 2023.

WIPO and Taiwan applicants focus on Digital Communication and Semiconductors, respectively

In 2024, the leading technical fields among the top 10 PCT applicants at WIPO showed a strong concentration in Digital Communication. Companies such as Huawei Technologies (Mainland China), Samsung Electronics (S. Korea), Qualcomm (US), LG Electronics (S. Korea), Xiaomi Mobile (Mainland China), and LM Ericsson (Sweden) centered the largest share of their patent portfolios in this field, with proportions ranging from 32.2% to 89.9%.

Notably, Xiaomi Mobile (96.2%) and LM Ericsson (89.3%) had nearly 90% of their applications concentrated within their top three technical fields, indicating highly focused portfolio strategies. Their shares specifically in Digital Communication—89.9% for Xiaomi Mobile and 63.0% for LM Ericsson—illustrate distinct strategic emphases within the same domain.

In Taiwan, the leading applicants—TSMC, Samsung Electronics, Applied Materials (U.S.), Tokyo Electron Limited, and Nanya Technology Corp.—all concentrated their filings most heavily in Semiconductors, with shares ranging from 43.3% to 79.9%.

Among them, TSMC (91.4%) and Nanya Technology Corp. (93.7%) had over 90% of their total filings concentrated within their top three technical fields, reflecting highly focused semiconductor deployment.

Meanwhile, Coupang Corp. (S. Korea) also recorded an extremely high concentration (96.7%), but in a different area—Information Management Methods—highlighting divergent strategic orientations among major filers.