According to the European Patent Office (EPO), innovation continues to accelerate with 199 275 patents applications in 2023, a 2.9% increase from the previous year. In 2023, the US, Germany, Japan, China and the Republic of Korea were the leading countries of origin, accounting together for 64,2% of the total amount of applications. The Patent Index notes significant improvement from the Republic of Korea (+21%) and from China (+8.8%). Among all patent applications to the EPO, 43% came from its member states’ companies and inventors. Moreover, in terms of patent application per million inhabitants, EPO’s member states are strongly represented since Switzerland, Sweden, Denmark, Finland and the Netherlands are the five leading countries.

Digital communication, medical technology and computer technology were the three technical fields with the highest number of patent applications, driving innovation this year. However, the strongest growth has been observed in electrical machinery, apparatus, energy field (+12.2%). This sector covers inventions related to clean-energy technologies. More specifically, Huawei is the company gathering the most patent applications, followed by Samsung and LG. EPO highlights the presence of four European companies within the top-10 patent applicants. In general, 63% of applicants were large enterprise whereas 23% of them were small or medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) or individual inventors.

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