Intellectual Property Management

Intellectual Property Management

Innovation has been the cornerstone of our company’s operation and management since its establishment. In order to properly protect research and development results, and strengthen our competitiveness in the global market, an intellectual property management policy in combination with operational goals has been formulated. Our company’s policy is to ensure the continuous implementation of the intellectual property management system, enhance research and development capabilities and brand value, and strengthen our intellectual property portfolio, so as to provide customers around the world with the best quality of products and services by “promoting globally and cultivating locally”, and continue the pursuit of the leading position in the industry adopting the attitude of sustainable development.

Intellectual Property Management Plan

Patent Management

In order to actively protect our own research and development results and integrate resources from different units, we have formulated and implemented specific rules to promote patent applications, which are handled by a dedicated unit responsible for submitting to the domestic and foreign patent offices for review, so as to strengthen our patent portfolio and protect company interests. Due to our emphasis on the quality and capability of patent applications, inventors are also given certain rewards to encourage their innovation. At the same time, patent management is also in place to properly record, integrate, maintain, and make use of patent assets to enhance our competitiveness. 

Trademark Management

D-Link is a brand deeply rooted in numerous countries facing consumers directly. In order to establish customer recognition of brand image and consolidate market advantages, we have been actively registering our trademarks around the world to market and promote products, sparing no effort to protect and enhance product value. We have the visual image of trademarks design by a dedicated unit, and also manage to define application categories and countries through our overall strategy. As markets and products constantly change, we not only continue to dynamically review our corresponding registration portfolio, but also regularly conduct trademark monitoring, and dispute similar trademark applications or other unfair competition practices by any third party in order to maintain the uniqueness and identity of our trademarks, so as to ensure that economic benefits derived from our trademarks can be fully utilized.

Trade Secrets Management

In order to prevent misappropriation or improper disclosure of trade secrets, we have formulated regulations and systems including, but not limited to, those related to information security and personal data protection, which may serve to observe conduct, objects, workplace areas, classification levels, and relevant education and training to employees. We also have an internal review mechanism in place to review related matters regularly. 
An employee is required to sign an employment contract inclusive of a confidentiality clause when he or she first reports to the company, and also sign a confidentiality agreement when the employment is ended; a supplier or business partner is required to sign a confidentiality agreement before the actual cooperation takes place. We further implement access control at the building entrance and IT department, and require visitors to apply for permission before entering and leaving. Internally, we conduct important documents and technical inventory check from time to time to protect key technologies, and ensure the effectiveness of company-wide information security protection measures and specific control plans through information security audits and continuous monitoring.

Copyright Management

An employment contract between the company and an employee has stated that and the company is the rightful owner of all copyrights resulting from employee’s work within the scope of employment; for any development project in cooperation with any supplier or client, the ownership of the copyright of development work shall be fully agreed upon in a contract in advance.

Status of Implementation

A report recounting intellectual property related issues will be submitted to the board of directors yearly. The latest annual report was made to the Board of Directors on November 14th, 2023.
We have always attached great importance to the management of intellectual property. In addition to establishing a professional legal and intellectual property team to support the research and development team, we have long paid attention to the relevant trends and regulatory requirements of intellectual property rights both domestically and abroad. The main status of implementation in recent years is as follows:
 
  • 2019 Improvement on Patent Application and Rewards Implementation Rules
  • 2020 Comprehensive review and consolidation of trademark portfolio
  • 2021 Expansion of the scope of ISO/ICE 27001 ISMS certification
  • 2022 Introduction and Level A certification of Taiwan Intellectual Property Management System (TIPS) effective until December 31st, 2023
  • 2023 Level A re-certification of Taiwan Intellectual Property Management System (TIPS) effective until December 31st, 2025
In 2022, a total of 503 employees took part in our annual basic training related to intellectual property, totaling 503 training hours; a total of 6 employees took part in related external training, totaling 37 training hours.
We continue to conduct training to strengthen education and awareness of basic and advanced knowledge related to all aspects of intellectual property.

List of Intellectual Property Acquired and Results

Patent

By the end of October, 2022, we have applied for a  total of 731 patents worldwide, with a total number of 562 patents granted.

Trademark

By the end of October, 2022, D-Link, our main brand, has been registered as trademark in over 116 countries/regions around the world.