Reference metadata describe statistical concepts and methodologies used for the collection and generation of data. They provide information on data quality and, since they are strongly content-oriented, assist users in interpreting the data. Reference metadata, unlike structural metadata, can be decoupled from the data.
Eurostat, the statistical office of the European Union
1.2. Contact organisation unit
G2 Eurostat - European Businesses
1.3. Contact name
Confidential because of GDPR
1.4. Contact person function
Confidential because of GDPR
1.5. Contact mail address
2920 Luxembourg LUXEMBOURG
1.6. Contact email address
Confidential because of GDPR
1.7. Contact phone number
Confidential because of GDPR
1.8. Contact fax number
Confidential because of GDPR
2.1. Metadata last certified
17 July 2026
2.2. Metadata last posted
17 July 2026
2.3. Metadata last update
17 July 2026
3.1. Data description
Intellectual property refers broadly to the creations of the human mind. Intellectual property rights protect the interests of creators by giving them property rights over their creations.
The indicator measures the number of requests for patent protection of an invention filed with the European Patent Office (EPO) regardless of whether they are granted or not. The number of applications include direct European applications filed in the reference year (Direct) and international (PCT) applications for which the applicant(s) opted to protect their invention in Europe by selecting the EPO during the reporting period (PCT regional).
Applications are allocated according to the country of residence of the first applicant listed on the application form (first-named applicant principle) as well as according to the country of residence of the inventor.
3.2. Classification system
The regional breakdown of the countries is based on the:
2. Agreements between Eurostat and Candidate and Potential Candidate Countries as well as between Eurostat and EFTA countries, for which statistical regions have been coded in a way that resembles NUTS. For more details, please consult Statistical regions for EU Candidate and EFTA countries.
3.3. Coverage - sector
All sectors.
3.4. Statistical concepts and definitions
Patent applications to the EPO by country of applicants and inventors.
For the calculation of total patents for Europe full counts are applied.
For the calculation of indicators on co-ownership the method of fractional counting is applied. Hence, if one patent application has more than one owner, then it will be proportionally assigned to the distinct countries of the owners.
Total number of application are available at the national level as follows:
Number
Million purchasing power standards (PPS)
Purchasing power standard (PPS) per inhabitant
Nominal GDP in billion euro
Per billion euro of business enterprise expenditure on R&D (BERD)
Per billion euro of gross domestic expenditure on R&D (GERD)
Per million inhabitants
Per million of population in the labour force
Separate tables are only available for patent application data as follows:
Number
Per million inhabitants
Per million of population in the labour force
3.5. Statistical unit
The statistical unit are the patents applications to EPO.
3.6. Statistical population
The statistical population are patents constituting the base for EPO per country of residence of the first names applicant and per country of residence of the inventors (fractional counts).
3.7. Reference area
Currently, among the 39 countries signatories of the European Patent Convention are: the European Union, the EFTA countries, the Candidate Countries.
3.8. Coverage - Time
The series for patent applications data start in general in 1977 and ends up to 2012.
3.9. Base period
Not applicable.
Total number of application are available at the national level as follows:
Number
Million purchasing power standards (PPS)
Purchasing power standard (PPS) per inhabitant
Nominal GDP in billion euro
Per billion euro of business enterprise expenditure on R&D (BERD)
Per billion euro of gross domestic expenditure on R&D (GERD)
Per million inhabitants
Per million of population in the labour force
Separate tables are only available for patent application data as follows:
Number
Per million inhabitants
Per million of population in the labour force
The reference period is the calendar year.
6.1. Institutional Mandate - legal acts and other agreements
Eurostat re-disseminates these data from the EPO. There are no legal agreements in place for collecting this data.
6.2. Institutional Mandate - data sharing
Not applicable.
7.1. Confidentiality - policy
Regulation (EC) No 223/2009 on European statistics (recital 24 and Article 20(4)) of 11 March 2009 (OJ L 87, p. 164), stipulates the need to establish common principles and guidelines ensuring the confidentiality of data used for the production of European statistics and the access to those confidential data with due account for technical developments and the requirements of users in a democratic society.
7.2. Confidentiality - data treatment
Not applicable.
8.1. Release calendar
These historical data are no longer updated nor revised.
8.2. Release calendar access
Not applicable.
8.3. Release policy - user access
In line with the Community legal framework and the European Statistics Code of Practice Eurostat disseminates European statistics on Eurostat's website (see item 10 - 'Accessibility and clarity') respecting professional independence and in an objective, professional and transparent manner in which all users are treated equitably. The detailed arrangements are governed by the Eurostat protocol on impartial access to Eurostat data for users.
Quality assurance for patent statistics depends on the primary sources.
11.2. Quality management - assessment
Not applicable.
12.1. Relevance - User Needs
IPR statistics are recognised to be part of the indicators that allow to measure R&D output and inventive activity, including statistics for the Sustainable Developement Goals (SDG).
12.2. Relevance - User Satisfaction
The number of downloads from Eurostat's reference database suppose that users find data relevant.
12.3. Completeness
Overall the completeness is good, depending however on the primary sources.
13.1. Accuracy - overall
Overall the accuracy is good, depending however on the primary sources.
13.2. Sampling error
Not applicable.
13.3. Non-sampling error
Not applicable.
14.1. Timeliness
These historical data are no longer updated nor revised.
14.2. Punctuality
These historical data are no longer updated nor revised.
15.1. Comparability - geographical
Good.
15.2. Comparability - over time
Good.
15.3. Coherence - cross domain
Not applicable.
15.4. Coherence - internal
Not applicable.
Not applicable.
17.1. Data revision - policy
These historical data are no longer updated nor revised.
17.2. Data revision - practice
These historical data are no longer updated nor revised.
These historical data are no longer updated nor revised.
18.3. Data collection
Done at the EPO.
18.4. Data validation
Done at the EPO.
18.5. Data compilation
Done at Eurostat based EPO data.
18.6. Adjustment
Not applicable.
Not applicable
Intellectual property refers broadly to the creations of the human mind. Intellectual property rights protect the interests of creators by giving them property rights over their creations.
The indicator measures the number of requests for patent protection of an invention filed with the European Patent Office (EPO) regardless of whether they are granted or not. The number of applications include direct European applications filed in the reference year (Direct) and international (PCT) applications for which the applicant(s) opted to protect their invention in Europe by selecting the EPO during the reporting period (PCT regional).
Applications are allocated according to the country of residence of the first applicant listed on the application form (first-named applicant principle) as well as according to the country of residence of the inventor.
17 July 2026
Patent applications to the EPO by country of applicants and inventors.
For the calculation of total patents for Europe full counts are applied.
For the calculation of indicators on co-ownership the method of fractional counting is applied. Hence, if one patent application has more than one owner, then it will be proportionally assigned to the distinct countries of the owners.
Total number of application are available at the national level as follows:
Number
Million purchasing power standards (PPS)
Purchasing power standard (PPS) per inhabitant
Nominal GDP in billion euro
Per billion euro of business enterprise expenditure on R&D (BERD)
Per billion euro of gross domestic expenditure on R&D (GERD)
Per million inhabitants
Per million of population in the labour force
Separate tables are only available for patent application data as follows:
Number
Per million inhabitants
Per million of population in the labour force
The statistical unit are the patents applications to EPO.
The statistical population are patents constituting the base for EPO per country of residence of the first names applicant and per country of residence of the inventors (fractional counts).
Currently, among the 39 countries signatories of the European Patent Convention are: the European Union, the EFTA countries, the Candidate Countries.
The reference period is the calendar year.
Overall the accuracy is good, depending however on the primary sources.
Total number of application are available at the national level as follows:
Number
Million purchasing power standards (PPS)
Purchasing power standard (PPS) per inhabitant
Nominal GDP in billion euro
Per billion euro of business enterprise expenditure on R&D (BERD)
Per billion euro of gross domestic expenditure on R&D (GERD)
Per million inhabitants
Per million of population in the labour force
Separate tables are only available for patent application data as follows:
