ZAGREB, 26 March (Hina) - The European Patent Office (EPO) received nearly 200,000 patent applications in 2024, including 41 from Croatia - 11 fewer than the previous year - according to the Patent Index 2024 published on Tuesday.
Companies and inventors worldwide submitted 199,264 patent applications to the EPO last year. The overall number remained at 2023 levels, with applications from Europe, including all 39 EPO member states, rising by 0.3%, while those from outside Europe declined slightly by 0.4%, the EPO reported.
EPO member states accounted for 43% of applications, while 57% came from outside Europe. The United States led with nearly 48,000 applications, followed by Germany (25,033), Japan (21,062) and China (20,081).
Switzerland remained the leading country in patents per capita (1,112), followed by Sweden (468), Finland (428) and Denmark (426). Croatia submitted 41 patent applications last year, down from 52 in the previous year.
Computer technology becomes leading sector
For the first time, computer technology - including artificial intelligence fields such as machine learning and pattern recognition - was the top sector, with 16,815 patent applications. Electrical machinery, devices and energy followed with 16,142 applications, marking the highest annual growth of 8.9%, driven by clean energy innovations, particularly battery technology, which saw a 24% rise.
Digital communications, covering mobile network inventions, ranked third with 15,983 applications, despite a 6.3% decline. Medical technology had 15,701 applications, down 3%, while the transport sector recorded 10,026 applications, a 3.5% increase.
As usual, major corporations accounted for a significant share of applications, with South Korea’s Samsung leading (5,107), followed by Huawei (4,322), LG (3,623), and US firms Qualcomm (3,015) and RTX (2,061). European companies Siemens (1,830), BASF (1,599) and Ericsson (1,470) ranked next, with Sony (1,307) and Robert Bosch (1,249) completing the top ten.
One in four patent applications includes a female inventor
Last year, 22% of EPO patent applications from Europe came from individual inventors or small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) with fewer than 250 employees. An additional 7% were submitted by universities and public research institutions.
"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," the EPO stated.
Moreover, 25% of all European patent applications listed at least one female inventor. Among countries with over 2,000 applications, Spain led with 42% of patents involving women, followed by Belgium (32%) and France (31%).
“Despite political and economic uncertainties, European companies and inventors filed more patent applications 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."
