Taiwan companies among fastest-growing U.S. patent holders
Mike Clendenin
EE Times
(05/18/2005 12:20 PM EDT)
MANHASSET, N.Y. — Among the technology companies with more than 50 U.S. patent awards in 2004, according to IFI Claims Patent Services, three Taiwanese companies ranked among the top 10 performers in percentage gains over their 2003 patent totals: DRAM maker Nanya Technology, chip set specialist Via Technologies and LCD manufacturer AU Optronics.
Listed in order below are the top 10 growth leaders in U.S. patent awards from 2003 to 2004:
Nanya Technology
Taoyuan, Taiwan
2004 patents: 100 2003-2004 growth: 284 percent Rank 2004/2003: 167/700
Notable innovation: Leakage control circuit, Patent No. 6,747,904.
Inventor: Chih-jen Chen
Summary: The invention provides a leakage control circuit in MOS transistors, particularly for turning off MOS transistors in a DRAM. The transistors are fabricated by the same process as the memory cell; no other extra processes are needed.
Molex
Lisle, Ill.
2004 patents: 91
2003-2004 growth: 128 percent
Rank 2004/2003: 188/483 (tie with AU.
Notable innovation: High-speed mezzanine connector with conductive housing, Patent No. 6,702,590.
Inventors: Victor Zaderej, Kenneth M. Stiles, Kent E. Regnier
Summary: The invention is a board-to-board connector for high-speed signal transmission.
Via Technologies
Taipei, Taiwan
2004 patents: 116
2003-2004 growth: 123 percent
Rank 2004/2003: 146/349
Notable innovation: Computer system for accessing initialization data, Patent No. 6,691,224.
Inventors: Bi-Yun Yeh, Shu-Tzu Wang, Heng-Chen Ho
Summary: The patent covers a method and computer system for accessing initialization data stored in a boot ROM's memory space that is not used by a BIOS contained in the boot ROM. The method is implemented across Via's chip set product portfolio.
BellSouth Intellectual Property
Atlanta
2004 patents: 184
2003-2004 growth: 114 percent
Rank 2004/2003: 96/201
Notable innovation: Wireless broadband service, Patent No. 6,778,517 B1.
Inventors: Yuang Lou, Douglas Duet, Vijay Perumbeti, David Payne.
Summary: Fixed-broadband wireless data access service provides shared wideband packet-switched data transport for high-speed data access in areas where conventional broadband and fiber-optic service are not available.
Hitachi Global Storage Technologies
San Jose, Calif.
2004 patents: 138
2003-2004 growth: 112 percent
Rank 2004/2003: 128/278
Notable innovation: Falling sensor and the information-processing device that makes use of it, Patent No. 6,771,449.
Inventors: Tatsuya Ito, Tadashi Okumura, Tsuyoshi Takahashi, Masatoshi Ishikawa, Yuji Nishimura, Tetsuo Yuki
Summary: The approach increases the intelligence of hard drives to protect user data when a host device, such as a laptop, MP3 player or cell phone, is dropped.
AU Optronics
Hsinchu, Taiwan
2004 patents: 79
2003-2004 growth: 98 percent (161 percent for Acer Display Technology and Uni-pac).
Rank 2004/2003: 220/483 (tie with Molex)
Notable innovation: Patent No. 6,778,626
Inventor: Jian-shen Yu
Summary: A bidirectional shift-register circuit outputs data in different turns according to a switching signal.
Broadcom Corp.
Irvine, Calif.
2004 patents: 299
2003-2004 growth: 78 percent
Rank 2004/2003: 61/114
Notable innovation: Subdimensional single-carrier modulation, Patent No. 6,778,611.
Inventor: Gottfried Ungerboeck
Summary: The method modulates a signal with data symbols so that the modulated sequence has spectral redundancy.
Nokia AB Oy
Espoo, Finland
2004 patents: 369
2003-2004 growth: 74 percent
Rank 2004/2003: 53/86
Notable innovation: Viewing Web pages on small-screen devices using a keypad for navigation, Patent No. 6,832,353.
Inventors: Jaakko Itavaara, Semi Malinen, Pasi Nieminen, Bhavin Suthar, Honglang Zhang
Summary: Software engineers conceived the innovation while developing a Web browser for mobile telephones.
Agilent Technologies
Palo Alto, Calif.
2004 patents: 651
2003-2004 growth: 64 percent
Rank 2004/2003: 28/46
Notable innovation: High-speed A/D converter with on-chip memory, Patent No. 6,707,411.
Inventors: Ken Poulton, Tom Kopley, Robert Neff
Summary: Agilent's A/D is used in the company's digital oscilloscopes. To record the fastest signals, such as those found inside a 3-GHz computer, Agilent's A/D samples at 20 GHz.
Qualcomm
San Diego
2004 patents: 283
2003-2004 growth: 59 percent
Rank 2004/2003: 68/110
Notable innovation: Patent No. 6,674,736.
Inventor: Edward G. Tiedemann Jr.
Summary: Patent pertains to a method and apparatus that permit handoffs while a mobile station is in the system access state.
Sources: IFI Claims Patent Services, EE Times
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