Intellectual Property

Intellectual Property Rights Management Project

The “Intellectual Property Rights Management Policy” is specified in order to encourage employees of the company to uphold the concept of continuous innovation and work improvement and carry forward this ethos, increase employees’ participation intention, ensure business confidentiality and R&D results, maintain the ethics of industry and competition, and value and accumulate intellectual property rights so as to enhance the competitiveness of the company.

Patent Management and Protection

• Patents are divided into stages including development and research, patent proposal, patent approval, promotion and utilization, and benefit evaluation. Incentives such as bonuses are provided to proposers, and patent-related achievements are considered in employee performance evaluations.
• To mitigate the risk of patent infringement, the company cooperates with patent law firms to conduct searches for relevant technical patents, review and assist in preparing patent application documents to improve approval rates.
• During the R&D process, the company also commissions patent law firms to perform patent searches for relevant technologies and to carry out patent portfolio planning, in order to reduce the risk of infringement.

Copyright Management and Protection

• The company continuously strengthens R&D personnel’s awareness and respect for copyrights, regularly promoting the importance of copyright and the legal boundaries for compliance. Efforts are made to thoroughly implement the management and protection of intellectual property rights.
• A document protection system is in place—important files such as circuit diagrams, piping diagrams, and other internal computer files are encrypted upon creation and access permissions are set, in order to prevent the leakage of critical information.

Trademark Protection and Management

• The company categorizes and creates a list of its trademarks to facilitate the regular review of their validity and expiration dates.
• When a unit uses a trademark, it must align with the scope of goods or services registered under the company’s "Trademark Registration Certificate."
• For new trademark designs and applications, the company will follow the guidelines for the acquisition, maintenance, and utilization of intellectual property rights.
• In cases where external vendors are commissioned for design work, the confidentiality clauses and responsibilities for breach of confidentiality will be clearly stated in the contractual agreement.

Business Confidentiality Protection and Management

The company and all employees have signed the “Employment Contract,” among which, the regulations related to the protection of business confidentiality are as follows:

• Employees shall keep and maintain business confidentiality with the duty of care as kind managers.
• Employees hired by the company shall not disclose or use any confidential information of their previous employers.
• During an employee’s tenure, any business confidential information done related to the job shall belong to the company.
• After an employee resigns, he or she shall still comply with the obligation of confidentiality, shall not disclose any business confidential information, and shall not use the company’s business confidential information within one year; the rights to take legal action and compensate the company’s loss will be reserved.

Implementation Status

On November 5, 2024, the company reported the status of its intellectual property management to the Board of Directors. The main implementation status is as follows:

• Implementation of Intellectual Property Management and Strengthening Confidential Document Control

1. In 2024, a new "NOVA Confidentiality Agreement" was introduced, requiring equipment suppliers to sign confidentiality agreements starting from the design phase to ensure the protection of confidential information. A total of 5 equipment suppliers completed the signing this year, with a signing rate of 100%.
2. The DVC document insurance system was continuously updated and upgraded. After the creation of design drawings in electronic format, the system automatically encrypts the files and sets access permissions to secure the company’s important assets.

• Enhanced Intellectual Property Protection Awareness Training

The company has planned and promoted intellectual property protection concepts and provided training to enhance the protection of confidential information. The "Intellectual Property Acquisition, Maintenance, and Utilization Guidelines" were incorporated into the annual mandatory online course for employees, with a completion rate of 90.28% as of September 2024.

• R&D Competitions

The Design and Instrumentation Departments have set R&D KPI targets, and in regular departmental meetings, they review and conduct feasibility technical assessments. Technological improvements or innovations are transformed into company intellectual property and patent applications.

• Trademark Renewal

In September of this year, the "NOTATECH Design Drawing" trademark in Class 37 was successfully renewed, extending its validity until 2035.

The Group's 2024 Certification Achievements:

• Utility Model Patents: 28 items
• Invention Patents: 9 items
• Trademarks: 3 items
• Software Copyrights: 10 items
• Design Patents: 4 items