March 11, 2005
MOEA statistics show that the number of Taiwanese patents in the US totaled 6,676, of which 5,298 were utility patents, in 2003. This scored the high-tech nation a fourth place ranking behind the US, Japan and Germany for US patents that year.
So, just who's paying for all the research and development that drives Taiwan's patent figures so high?
According to figures released recently by the Directorate-General of Budget, Accounting and Statistics, Taiwan's
R&D expenditures maintained a split of 40% to 60% between the government and private sector respectively in the five years up to and including 2003.
Taiwan invested a total of
NTD 240.8 billion in
R&D in 2003, a figure equal to 2.5% of this island nation's gross domestic product. From 2000 to 2003, spending on
R&D sustained an average annual growth rate of 6%.
Which industries account for most of this
R&D?
Not surprisingly, outlays by Taiwan's information technology and electronics industry and computer system design and services industry made up 75% of all
R&D spending here. These two sectors maintained average annual growth rates of 10.2% and 7.8% respectively from 2000 to 2003, rates that both outpace the nation's 6% overall
R&D spending growth rate over this period.
And what type of
R&D is being pursued?
The DGBAS reports that, from 1999 to 2003, around 60% of
R&D expenditures was applied to the exploitation of existing knowledge to create new products or installations or to upgrade manufacturing processes. Roughly 25% to 30% went to applied research aimed at gaining new knowledge and innovations, while about another 10% was invested in core research which was more experimental or theoretical in nature.
(ETtoday)
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