On 17 January 2012, the European Patent Office (EPO) published preliminary figures on patent filings in 2011 and announced a new record number.
Despite the economic and financial crisis, the EPO received 243,000 applications (rise of 3% compared to 2010) and granted 62,115 patents (7% more than in 2010) in 2011.
Preliminary results show that a clear majority (62% of filings) came from non-European countries (up slightly from 61% in 2010). Globally, the shift towards Asia continues. Whilst Europe's share was virtually unchanged, the US’ fell to 24% (from 26% in 2010), but both China's and Japan's increased (to 7% and 19% from 5% and 18%, respectively).
Among European countries, Germany filed the most (14%), followed by France (5%), then Switzerland, the United Kingdom and the Netherlands (3% each). Amongst the big emerging economies, there were substantial increases from a fairly low base: 13,1% for India, 26,2% for Russia and 11,3% for Brazil.
At this stage, the EPO has not yet provided detailed figures on trends in individual industries. Publication is expected in March 2012.
As an indication of the industry’s commitment to innovation, in 2009, the medical technology industry filed almost 16,500 patent applications, over 12% of the total number of European applications and more than any other sector.
Eucomed looks forward to reading the 2011 figures, in particular the breakdown per individual industry.
