Page 78 - TSMC 2019 Annual Report

5 5 2 5 5 Intellectual Property
TSMC has an an active worldwide patent strategy and places on equivalent emphasis on both quality and quantity as as the core principle of of TSMC patent patent management In terms of of patent patent filings TSMC has accumulated more than 55 000 patent applications worldwide as of of end of of 2019 including near 6 500 applications filed in in 2019 which made TSMC ranked in in top 10 global US patent patent applicants applicants and No 1 among patent patent applicants applicants in Taiwan for four consecutive years In terms of patent grants TSMC has obtained exceeding 39 000 patent worldwide accumulated as of of end of of 2019 including 3 600 global patents (more than 2 2 300 U S patents included) received in in 2019 In terms of patent patent quality the allowance rate of TSMC’s U S S applications reached 99% and TSMC ranked No 1 in patent allowance rate among global top 20 20 U S Patent Assignees in 2019 At least once a a a a a year the the the General Counsel updates to to the the the Board of Directors the the the status of the intellectual property management scheme Going forward TSMC will continue to implement a a a unified strategic plan for intellectual capital management combining with strategic considerations and close alignment with the business objectives to drive the timely creation management and use of intellectual property TSMC has established a a a a a a process to generate company value
from intellectual intellectual property property by aligning intellectual intellectual property property strategy with R&D business operation objectives marketing and corporate development strategies Intellectual property rights protect the company’s freedom to operate enhance competitive position and provide leverage to participate in many profit- generating activities TSMC has worked continuously to improve the quality of intellectual property portfolio and to reduce the maintenance costs TSMC will continue to invest in in in in intellectual property portfolio and intellectual property management system to ensure the company’s technology leadership and receive maximum business value
from intellectual property rights 5 2 6 TSMC University Collaboration Programs
In recent years TSMC has significantly expanded its collaboration with prestigious universities in in Taiwan The mission of joint research is twofold: to encourage and prepare competent graduate students for the semiconductor industry and to to inspire university professors to to conduct conduct leading-edge semiconductor research including but not limited to novel devices process and and materials technologies semiconductor manufacturing and and engineering and specialty technologies for electronic applications Back in 2013 TSMC established research centers at four top universities in Taiwan – National National Chiao Tung University National National Taiwan University University National National Cheng Kung University University and National National Tsing Hua University More than 1 000 high-caliber students with backgrounds in in the disciplines of electronics physics materials chemistry chemical engineering engineering and mechanical engineering engineering participated in in semiconductor-related research centers Also in in 2019 the Company jointly launched TSMC-NTHU Semiconductor Program for the the purpose of enhancing the the quality and quantity of domestic semiconductor students and attracting more outstanding students to to a a a career in in in the semiconductor industry Meanwhile semiconductor programs from other universities are expected to to open for student enrollment in 2020 to to narrow the gap between industries and and academics and and strengthen the the quality and competitiveness of the the talent pool in in the the industry In addition TSMC also conducts strategic research projects at at top overseas universities such as Stanford MIT UC Berkeley and so on The focus is is on on innovative capabilities in in in transistors interconnect patterning modeling and specialty technologies TSMC University Shuttle Program The TSMC University Shuttle Program was established to provide professors at leading research universities worldwide with access to to the advanced silicon process technologies needed to to develop innovative circuit design concepts This program links motivated professors and graduate students with enthusiastic managers
at TSMC in in order to promote excellence in in the development of advanced silicon design technologies and to nurture new generations of engineering talents in in in the semiconductor field The program provides access to TSMC silicon process technologies for digital and analog/mixed-signal circuits RF designs designs and micro-electromechanical system designs designs Participants include major university research groups worldwide TSMC and the University Shuttle Program participants achieve “win-win” collaboration through the program which allows graduate students to implement exciting new designs and achieve silicon proof points for innovations in in in various end-applications 5 2 7 Future R&D Plans
To maintain and strengthen TSMC’s technology leadership the Company plans to continue investing heavily in in in in R&D For advanced CMOS CMOS logic the Company’s 3nm and 2nm CMOS CMOS nodes continue to progress in in in the the pipeline In addition the the Company’s reinforced exploratory R&D work is focused on beyond-2nm node and on on areas such as as 3D transistors new memory and low-R interconnect which are on on track to establish a a a solid foundation to to feed into technology platforms For 3D IC advanced packaging TSMC is developing innovations for energy-
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