Intellectual Property Management

Intellectual Property Management

Innovation has been the cornerstone of our company’s operations and management since its establishment. To properly protect our research and development outcomes and enhance our competitiveness in the global market, we have formulated an intellectual property management policy aligned with our operational objectives. Our policy aims to ensure the continuous implementation of our intellectual property management system, enhance research and development capabilities and brand value, and strengthen our intellectual property portfolio.By adopting a strategy of “global deployment and local implementation”, we strive to provide the highest quality products and services to customers worldwide and continuously pursue industry leadership with a commitment to sustainable development.

Intellectual Property Management Plan

Patent Management

To actively protect our research and development results and integrate resources from various units, we have formulated and implemented specific rules for patent applications. These applications are handled by a dedicated unit within the company and submitted to domestic and foreign patent authorities for review, thereby strengthening our patent portfolio and safeguarding company interests. Due to our emphasis on the quality and capability of patent applications, incentives are provided to inventors to encourage innovation. Additionally, patent management is implemented to effectively record, integrate, maintain, and utilize patent assets, thereby enhancing our competitiveness. 

Trademark Management

D-Link is a brand deeply rooted in numerous countries and directly engages with consumers. To establish customer recognition of our brand image and consolidate market advantages, we have been actively registering our trademarks globally to market and promote our products, sparing no effort in protecting and enhancing product value. A dedicated unit handles the visual identity design of trademarks and defines application categories and target countries according to our overall strategy. As markets and products constantly change, we consistently review our corresponding registration portfolio and regularly conduct trademark monitoring. We file objections against third-party trademark applications that are similar to ours or involve any acts of unfair competition to maintain the uniqueness and identity of our trademarks, ensuring that the economic benefits derived from our trademarks are fully realized.

Trade Secrets Management

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, confidentiality levels, and relevant education and training to employees. We also have an internal auditing mechanism in place for regular reviews. 
 
Upon employment, employees are required to sign employment contracts containing confidentiality clauses, and upon departure, they must also sign confidentiality agreements. Vendors and business partners are also required to sign confidentiality agreements prior to cooperation.
 
Additionally, we implement access control at the building entrance and within the IT department, where external personnel must obtain visitor permits before entering and leaving. We conduct periodic inventories of important documents and technologies to protect key technologies and ensure the effectiveness of our overall information security protection measures and specific control plans through information security audits and continuous monitoring.

Copyright Management

The terms of employment contracts between the company and employees explicitly state that the company is the rightful owner of all copyrights resulting from the employees’ work within the scope of employment. This ensures that the company holds the copyright to any work produced by the employees in the course of their duties. In cases of collaboration with suppliers or clients on development projects, the ownership of the copyright for development work shall be clearly defined and agreed upon in contracts in advance.

Status of Implementation

A report recounting intellectual property related issues will be submitted to the Board of Directors annually. 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 domestic and international intellectual property trends and regulatory requirements. The main achievements in recent years are as follows:
  • In 2019, we issued the Improvement on Patent Application and Rewards Implementation Rules.
  • In 2020, we conducted a comprehensive inventory and consolidation of our trademark portfolio.
  • In 2021, we expanded the scope of ISO/ICE 27001 ISMS certification.
  • In 2022, we introduced and achieved Grade A certification of the Taiwan Intellectual Property
    Management System (TIPS), which is effective until December 31st, 2023.
  • In 2023, we passed the Grade A re-certification of the Taiwan Intellectual Property Management
    System (TIPS), which is effective until December 31st, 2025.
In 2023, a total of 639 employees completed basic intellectual property-related training, with a cumulative training time of 357.5 person-hours; 2 employees participated in related external training, with a total training time of 28.6 person-hours.
We continue to implement various training programs to strengthen employees’ knowledge and awareness of both basic and advanced aspects of intellectual property rights.

List of Intellectual Property Acquired and Results

Patent

A total of 740 patent applications have been filed worldwide, with 565 patents granted.

Trademark

As of October 2023, D-Link, our main brand, has been registered as a trademark and maintained in 116 countries/regions worldwide.