Reporting by JZ; Editing by Greg Gao/WM Zhang
The China Integrated Circuit Industry Intellectual Property Annual Report (2020)" has been released, giving an overview of last year's IC-related IP and patent developments in the country.
The report is a joint work by the Intellectual Property Department of China Semiconductor Industry Association (CSIA) and Shanghai Silicon Intellectual Property Exchange Inc. (SSIPEX)
It is an industrial and public service organization set up by the Shanghai municipal government to improve China's IC design industry.
This report mainly focuses on China's IC patents and layout designs, covering the number of patent disclosures, technology distribution, major patentees, and exclusive rights of layout design in China's IC industry in 2020.
It shows the patent filed number at more than 40,000 in 2020, a 13.7% increase over the previous year.
Among the patents filed, 83% by the Chinese and 17% by foreign parties.
In terms of patent types, 77.7% are Chinese invention patents in IC, less than the previous year; 20.8% are in practical use. The biggest number of patents are related to design, followed by manufacturing and testing.
Among the foreign patent holders are 18% in design, 20% in manufacturing, and 8% in testing.
Of the top 20 patent holders, 15 are Chinese, with four from scientific research institutes, one from Taiwan, and five from mainland IC firms. They also include five foreign patent holders: Samsung, Micron, Hynix, Intel, and Murata.
The top 20 IC patent holders in China in 2020 are as follows (See the chart): No.1 Samsung; No.2 TSMC; No.3 Suzhou Inspur; No.4 Huahong Group; No.5 Yangtze Memory; No. 6 Micron; No.7 Hynix; No.8 SMIC; No.9 CXMT; No.10 University of Science & Technology of China; No.11 IME of China Academy of Sciences; No.12 Huawei; No.13 Intel; No.14 Murata; No.15 Xidian; No.16 BOE; No.17 Gree; No.18 RROFS Microsystem; No. 19 Oppo; No. 20 Tianjin University.
The full report in Chinese is available for download at http://www.ssipex.com/doc/
