TSMC patent filing strategy: general decline, “all-in” on U.S., “token presence” in Germany

Context: Founded in 1987, Taipei-based TSMC is the world’s leading semiconductor manufacturer, controlling over 70% of the market. As of 2024, its patent portfolio boasted over 65,000 granted patents across the US, Taiwan, China, South Korea, Germany, and Japan.

What’s new: TSMC is a “global giant” with a “non-global patent strategy”, according to data retrieved by Taiwan-based IP consultant Ju-Ling Yuan (February 6, 2025 LinkedIn post by Ju-Ling Yuan). The company has filed over 5,000 patent applications per year in the U.S. (equal to over half) in the past 20 years, while in China – where filings were once plentiful – there has been a notable decline in recent years, and in South Korea, there has also been a reduction. In Europe and Japan, there are almost no patent applications. They don’t even count as “side dishes”, Mr. Yuan notes. The data for 2024 is incomplete due to the standard 18-month publication delay, so it was not included in Mr. Yuan’s analysis.

Direct impact: The data shows that the company has an “all-in” strategy in the U.S., while it is more conservative in other key jurisdictions, such as China and South Korea, and seems to ignore the rest of the world. Mr. Yuan noted in his post that this could be because “when a company becomes powerful enough, things paradoxically become simpler”.

Wider ramifications: TSMC had announced plans a couple of years ago to start manufacturing in Germany under a joint venture (called the European Semiconductor Manufacturing Company), but the production facility – located in Dresden – is still under construction, with mass production set to begin in late 2027. A lack of presence in Europe means the lack of European patents may not come as a surprise – and the company could pivot its filing strategy once German manufacturing officially begins. Further, TSMC has historically indicated that it prefers not to rely too heavily on its patents. Instead, it has a more active trade secret strategy.