Taiwanese companies have steadily built up their intellectual property (IP) portfolios over the past decade — including through a steady rise in research and development (R&D), which hit a record last year, government figures showed on Monday. R&D spending last year rose to NT$793.7 billion (US$27.59 billion), up from NT$439.7 billion in 2011, Directorate-General of Budget, Accounting and Statistics (DGBAS) data showed. Last year’s figure was up 2.6 percent from a year earlier after adjusting for inflation, the DGBAS said. A trade dispute between the US and China has prompted many foreign buyers to shift orders away from Chinese companies to Taiwanese suppliers,