go to the original language article
Companies and inventors from all over the world filed 199,264 patent applications at the European Patent Office (EPO) last year, according to the Patent Index 2024 published today.
The Industrial Property Organization stated in its announcement regarding the findings of the European Patent Office’s innovation index (Patent Index 2024) that the high level of patent filing activity was about the same as the previous year (2023: 199,452, -0.1%), following three years of significant growth.
“Despite political and economic uncertainties, European companies and inventors filed more patents last year, highlighting their technological capability and continued investment in research and development,” said EPO President António Campinos. “The EPO’s patent data provides a clear roadmap for industry, policies, and investment priorities. As the Draghi and Letta reports warn, to remain globally competitive, Europe needs to strengthen its innovation ecosystem and do more to help inventors develop and commercialize their inventions, especially in critical areas such as green technologies, AI, and semiconductors.”
Computer technology rises to the top
Computer technology, continues the announcement, which includes AI fields such as machine learning and pattern recognition, was for the first time the leading field with 16,815 patent applications in 2024.
The sector of electrical machinery, apparatus, and energy recorded the strongest growth last year (+8.9% over 2023), mainly due to advances in clean energy technologies, notably battery innovation (+24.0%). Simultaneously, digital communication, including inventions related to mobile networks, recorded a decrease of 6.3%.
Greece’s dominant technology is pharmaceuticals
The leading technologies for European patent applications originating from Greece last year were:
– pharmaceuticals
– medical technology
– handling (including packaging technologies)
– materials/metallurgy and engines/pumps/turbines
The top applicants from Greece were Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, showcasing the innovation in the country’s higher education institutions, followed by Bic Violex.
Diverse sources of innovation: Major companies are key contributors
Samsung emerged as the new leading applicant at the EPO in 2024 (having last held the top spot in 2020), Huawei fell to second place, followed by LG, Qualcomm, and RTX. Among the top 10 applicants are four companies from Europe, two from South Korea, two from the USA, and one from China and Japan.
Small companies leverage the patent system to boost innovation.
In 2024, 22% of patent applications at the EPO from Europe came from individual inventors or SMEs (companies with fewer than 250 employees), while another 7% came from universities and public research organizations. This underscores the appeal of the patent system for smaller entities, which was further reinforced by EPO fee reductions in April 2024 for micro-enterprises, individuals, non-profits, universities, and research institutions.
Global and European Trends
The United States maintained its position as the leading country of origin for European patent applications, followed by Germany, Japan, China, and South Korea. EPO member states represent 43% of applications, while 57% came from non-European countries (see Application Source chart). Notably, South Korea registered the strongest increase (+4.2%), China showed a 0.5% increase, while companies and inventors from the USA (-0.8%) and Japan (-2.4%) filed fewer applications.
One in four patent applications includes a female inventor
In 2024, 25% of all patent applications to the EPO from Europe included at least one female inventor.
It is noted that, for Greece, the percentage of applications including a female inventor was 30%, which is significantly higher than the European average. Spain was the country with the highest percentage of female inventors in Europe, at 42%, followed by Belgium (32%) and France (31%).
The Unified Patent has exceeded expectations in its second year in force
The Unified Patent system, launched in 2023, continues to gain momentum, providing innovators with simpler and more accessible patent protection in 18 EU member states with a single application to the EPO. Unified Patent protection was requested for 25.6% of all European patents granted by the EPO in 2024, totaling over 28,000 applications.
For Greece, the rate was 34.8% in 2024, meaning that Greek patent holders sought unified patent protection for over one-third of their granted European patents. (25/3/2025)