The National Applied Research Laboratories (NARL) announced Tuesday that it is setting up a database of standard-essential patents for the 4G Long Term Evolution standard.
NARL plans to compile more than 6,000 essential patents, translate them into Chinese, and provide them to Taiwanese firms. The goal is to give Taiwanese companies a boost in 4G technology, an area where Taiwan lags behind. The database also aims to give Taiwanese companies a competitive edge when 5G technology begins to emerge.
The largest number of patents NARL has gathered so far are held by companies in the US, China, South Korea, Japan, Finland, and Sweden. Patents held by Taiwanese companies make up less than 2% of the 3,000 or so patents that NARL has collected.
NARL believes that Taiwanese firms such as HTC, ASUS, and MediaTek, which have begun making forays into the world of 4G technology have a good chance of success.