Companies and inventors from around the world filed 199,264 patent applications at the European Patent Office (EPO) last year, according to the Patent Index 2024 published this week.
Computer technology applications saw the strongest growth, and Samsung filed the most patent applications.
The high level of activity was on a par with the previous year (2023: 199,452, -0.1%), following three years of significant growth. Patent applications from Europe, including all 39 EPO member states, rose by 0.3%, while those from outside Europe fell slightly.
“Despite political and economic uncertainties, European companies and inventors filed more patents last year, underlining their technological prowess and their continued investment in R&D,” said EPO president António Campinos.
“The EPO’s patent data is a clear roadmap for industry, policy, and investment priorities. As the Draghi and Letta reports warn, to stay competitive globally, Europe must enhance its innovation ecosystem and do more to help inventors scale up and commercialise their inventions, especially in critical areas such as green technologies, AI and semiconductors.”
Computer technology, which includes areas of AI such as machine learning and pattern recognition, was the leading field for the first time, with 16,815 patent applications in 2024. Electrical machinery, apparatus, and energy posted the strongest growth last year (8.9% on 2023), driven by advances in clean energy technologies, particularly battery innovation (24.0%). Meanwhile, digital communication, which encompasses inventions related to mobile networks, saw a 6.3% decrease.
The US maintained its position as the top country of origin for European patent applications, followed by Germany, Japan, China, and the Republic of Korea. EPO member states accounted for 43% of filings, while 57% came from outside Europe (see graph Origin of applications). Notably, R. Korea saw the strongest growth (4.2%), China saw a 0.5% increase, while companies and inventors from the US (-0.8%) and Japan (-2.4%) filed fewer applications.
Patent applications from the 39 EPO member states were up 0.3%, boosted by growth from Switzerland (3.2%) and the UK (3.1%), while filings from the EU 27 member states were down by 0.4%. Germany (+0.4%) and France (+1.1%), Europe’s top two filing countries, were up slightly in 2024. Switzerland remained the lead country in patents per capita, followed by several Nordic countries.
Samsung was the new top applicant at the EPO in 2024 (having last topped the ranking in 2020), Huawei dropped to second, followed by LG, Qualcomm and RTX​. The top 10 includes four companies from Europe, two from South Korea, two from the US, and one each from China and Japan.
In 2024, 22% of patent applications to the EPO from Europe came from individual inventors or SMEs (companies with fewer than 250 employees), with another 7% from universities and public research organisations. This highlights the patent system’s appeal to smaller entities, further strengthened by the EPO’s April 2024 fee reductions for micro-enterprises, individuals, non-profits, universities, and research institutions.
In 2024, 25% of all patent applications to the EPO coming from Europe named at least one woman as an inventor. Among major filing countries (over 2,000 applications), Spain led with 42%, followed by Belgium (32%) and France (31%).
The Unitary Patent system, launched in 2023, continues to gain momentum, offering innovators simpler and more accessible patent protection across 18 EU Member States with a single request to the EPO. Unitary protection was requested for 25.6% of all European patents granted by the EPO in 2024 totalling over 28 000 requests – a 53% increase compared to 2023 (18,300 requests). Patentees from EPO member states had the highest uptake rate, with 36.5% of their European patents transformed into Unitary Patents, followed by those from Republic of Korea (18.9%) and China (17.9%) – which both saw a significant increase – then the US (16.0%), and Japan (7.9%). Top requestors were Johnson & Johnson, Siemens, Samsung, Qualcomm, and Volvo Group. Smaller entities are even more inclined to use the system, with European SMEs and universities having an uptake rate of 57.5%.
Jim Cornall is editor of Deeptech Digest and publisher at Ayr Coastal Media. He is an award-winning writer, editor, photographer, broadcaster, designer and author. Contact Jim here.
