Intellectual Property Rights Management Policy
Wistron places great importance on the management of intellectual capital. We have strengthened our R&D capabilities, introduced high value-added products and technical services for innovative functions, and improved manufacturing efficiency and quality through the intellectual property rights management policy. Wistron establishes, accumulates, maintains, and manages a comprehensive IP portfolio for the future. Furthermore, Wistron uses risk management to enhance our competitiveness and increase profitability. In the future, Wistron will continue to leverage our intellectual capital management plan by integrating Wistron’s strategic considerations and operating goals to ensure the production, management, and monetization of intellectual property rights.
Wistron's principles regarding intellectual property rights management are as follows:
Patent Portfolio Management
Wistron is committed to building a robust and efficient global patent portfolio. Through a well-defined patent strategy, the Company ensures that its technological achievements are protected while safeguarding the interests of its customers. To date, Wistron holds over 6,000 multinational patents. This strong patent portfolio enhances technological competitiveness and secures a market advantage for its innovations.
In terms of patent management, Wistron integrates its overall corporate strategy and business development objectives to actively drive innovation and patent deployment, ensuring the maximization of patent value. The patent team works closely with the R&D departments through brainstorming sessions, patent big data analysis, and proposal review mechanisms to identify high-quality ideas and generate goal-oriented invention proposals. Additionally, the team applies over 300 evaluation criteria to rigorously review patent specifications, ensuring that every patent meets high-quality standards. The end-to-end process—from invention proposal, patent search, scope design, drafting and translation, filing strategy, and response, to post-grant maintenance and management—is designed to ensure that Wistron’s patent assets maintain long-term competitive advantages.
To enhance the professional capabilities of patent talent and broaden employees’ understanding of intellectual property, Wistron strengthens internal professional training and has established an incentive system for inventive contributions. This reward and recognition mechanism motivates employees to innovate, further enhancing the quality and market competitiveness of Wistron’s products and technical services.
In terms of patent quantity and quality management, Wistron continues to pursue independent innovation and patent development, while also engaging in patent acquisition, investment, and the elimination of invalid patents to optimize the patent portfolio. With a consistent evaluation framework, Wistron maintains comprehensive oversight of patent coverage and market value. The Company also uses benchmarking metrics provided by third-party assessment institutions to compare its portfolio with international competitors and industry leaders, further enhancing patent competitiveness and maximizing the commercial value of its patent portfolio.
Trademark Management
Trademarks are an important representation of Wistron's products and services. A robust trademark strategy can strengthen the Company's brand image and ensure the brand is invulnerable. Wistron currently holds trademark protection in 37 key countries globally, with trademark presence on all five continents.
A sustainable brand demonstrates a company's commitment sustainable operations. To efficiently manage trademarks, Wistron has established a dedicated trademark team. This team directly liaises with offices in different countries to oversee trademark affairs, controlling costs and ensuring access to firsthand trademark information globally. Wistron's current trademark management priorities include:
1. Apply for trademark registration systematically in accordance with Wistron's business development;
2. Conduct a trademark search before using the trademark publicly to avoid infringing on others' trademark rights;
3. Utilize the global trademark monitoring system to prevent counterfeit or unauthorized use of the company's trademarks;
4. Evaluate the current usage of trademarks and phase out those that do not provide economic benefits.
Thanks to our rigorous and systematic trademark management system, Wistron has not faced any trademark infringement lawsuits since its establishment. To further enhance this system, we officially adopted the "Intellectual Property Management Standards (TIPS)" in 2023.
Protection of Trade Secrets and Confidential Information
Trademarks arTrade secrets and confidential information are important intellectual assets for Wistron. We use various control mechanisms to ensure the protection of trade secrets and confidential information. Apart from maintaining our competitive advantage, these protected assets can drive innovation and ensure our customers' rights. No substantiated complaints concerning breaches of customer privacy and losses of customer data were received by the Company in 2024.
To protect Wistron and our customer’s confidential information, we obtained the information security management system international standard ISO/IEC 27001 certification and carried out management measures accordingly. We conduct social engineering drills once every six months to improve employee awareness of phishing emails. Meanwhile, we require confidential information and trade secret protection training for all new employees to ensure that employees fulfill our confidentiality commitments to our customers.
We have signed confidentiality agreements with our customers and related suppliers. Both parties are required to protect confidential information. In the past five years, we have signed an average of 400 to 700 confidentiality agreements every year. Customer information is handled by designated units to reduce the possibility of improper disclosure and leaks. We have also joined the Taiwan Association for Trade Secrets Protection to continue tracking changes to related laws and the industry.
Intellectual Property Rights Management
Wistron has enacted a formal intellectual property rights management policy since 2020. Highlights of Wistron’s management of intellectual property rights matters in 2024 include the following, which have been reported to Wistron’s board of directors on December 20, 2024:
1.Intellectual Property Management Policy Implementation Scenarios for 2024 are listed below:
(1) Patent Management
Wistron conducts annual evaluations of its patent portfolio, eliminating patents that are outdated in technology or lower in overall quality or value (including those that have expired, been sold, or abandoned). The Company continues to diversify and revitalize its patent assets while steadily increasing participation in patent-related programs and the submission of patent families year over year. Wistron’s patent portfolio ranks among the top in the industry, and its composite score on patent quality and value indicators continues to improve annually, outperforming many leading global companies. In 2024, Wistron was named one of the Top 100 Global Innovators™ by ClarivateTM for the third consecutive year, based on the 2024 Global Patent Portfolio Strength Index. The Company was also recognized by LexisNexis® as one of Taiwan’s Top 10 Innovation Momentum Companies, based on the 2024 Innovation Momentum Index, and was selected by the Taiwan Intellectual Property Office to showcase its patented technologies in the prestigious Taiwan Patent GO exhibition for outstanding patents.
(2) Trademark Management
We adopted "Taiwan Intellectual Property Standards (TIPS)" for trademark management in 2023 and have been verified (valid until December 31, 2025).
Registered trademarks are monitored from time to time through a global surveillance system to gain insight on others’ use and application of trademarks in various countries and file objections to potentially similar trademarks. 80 objection cases have been filed, with a success rate of over 86%.
(3) Protection of Trade Secrets and Confidential Information
In order to protect the confidential information of the Company and its customers, Wistron received ISO/IEC 27001 certification for information security management systems and has implemented related measures. Every six months, Wistron conducts social engineering simulation drills to raise employees' awareness of phishing letters. At the same time, all new employees are required to complete education and training on the protection of confidential information and business secrets to ensure that each employee can adhere to the commitment of confidentiality when dealing with customers. In addition, cloud-based digital tools, such as the encryption mechanism, identity identification and authorization principles in Microsoft Office 365, are used to protect confidential corporate documents. Wistron has signed confidentiality agreements with our customers and related suppliers to protect each other's confidential information. Microsoft's SCCM software is used regularly for software inventory. The software license course is a mandatory course for new employees.
2. Wistron’s intellectual property rights portfolio:
Patent: Wistron owns more than 6,300 multinational patents (covering wider technology/ product fields and countries, and over 90% are invention patents) and designs worldwide.
Trademark: Wistron currently owns about 800 registered multinational trademarks. 656 trademarks were renewed, and 80 have been abandoned.
To enhance Wistron's brand image and brand trust, the focus and goals of our management policies are as follows:
Intellectual Property Management Policy:
1. Improving the intellectual property management system continuously.
2. Strengthening confidential information management.
3. Strengthening employees' awareness of the intellectual property infringement.
Intellectual Property Management Target:
1. Revising the internal intellectual property regulations for “Trademark Management Operating Procedures” to response to the examination mechanism of Intellectual Property Office regarding trademark’s accelerating examination.
2. Revising the “Confidential Information Management Regulations” to adjust the "setting of confidentiality and storage periods" and "control measures for the transmission of confidential information".
3. Continuing to update the content of the internal website of “Intellectual Property Knowledge” every six months and adding case sharing to the said website.
If you have any questions or suggestions regarding Wistron's intellectual property policy, please contact Email: ESG@wistron.com
