The European Patent Office (EPO) has recently published the Patent Index for 2024 which presents an overview of applications for the European patent protection and European patents granted by the European Patent Office.
Key data:
- The European Patent Office (EPO) received almost 200,000 patent applications last year;
- Computer technologies took the leading position for the first time;
- The rapid rise of inventions in the fields of artificial intelligence and batteries;
- The most represented countries in the origin of patent applications are the USA, Germany, Japan, China and Republic of Korea;
- Samsung – the new leading patent applicant, ahead of Huawei and LG;
- The Unitary Patent System is gaining momentum with over 28,000 applications in 2024;
- Almost a quarter of all European applications came from small companies, and every fourth application has a woman listed as the inventor.
Companies and inventors from all around the world filed 199,264 patent applications with the European Patent Office (EPO) last year, according to the Patent Index 2024 published on March 25th2025. The high level of patenting activity was similar to the previous year (2023: 199,452, -0.1%), following three years of significant growth. Applications from Europe, including applications from all 39 EPO member states, increased by 0.3%, while applications from outside Europe fell slightly (-0.4%).
“In spite of political and economic disturbances, European companies and inventors filed more patent applications last year, confirming their technological power and continued investment in research and development,” said Antonio Campinos, President of the EPO. “The EPO patent data provides a clear road map for industry, policy and investment priorities. As the Draghi and Lete reports warn, in order to remain globally competitive, Europe needs to improve its innovation ecosystem and do more to support inventors in the dissemination and commercialisation of their inventions, particularly in key areas such as green technologies, artificial intelligence and semiconductors”.
Computer technologies take the lead
Computer technologies, which include artificial intelligence areas, such as machine learning and pattern recognition, became the leading field for the first time with 16,815 applications in 2024. Electrical machinery, appliances and energy recorded the largest growth in comparison to the previous year (+8.9%) which is the result of advances in technologies for obtaining “clean” energy, especially in innovations related to batteries (+24.0%). On the other hand, digital communications, including inventions relating to mobile networks, fell by 6.3%.
Global and European Trends
The USA maintained its position as the leading country in terms of the number of European patent applications, followed by Germany, Japan, China and the Republic of Korea. 43% of applications were filed from EPO member states, while 57% of applications came from countries outside Europe. Of particular importance is the growth in the number of applications from the Republic of Korea (+4.2%) and China (+0.5%), while the number of applications from the United States (-0.8%) and Japan (-2.4%) declined.
Applications from the 39 EPO member states increased by +0.3%, primarily as a result of increases in applications from Switzerland, (+3.25) and the United Kingdom (+3.1%), while applications from the 27 EU member states decreased slightly (-0.4%). Germany (+0.4%) and France (+1.1%), the leading European Countries in terms of applications, recorded slight increases. Switzerland remained the leading country in terms of patent per capita, followed by several Nordic countries.
Diverse sources of innovation: Large companies as main inventors
Samsung became the leading EPO applicant in 2024 (it was last at the top in 2020.), Huawei dropped to second place, followed by LG, Qualcomm and RXT. The top ten include four companies from Europe, two each from the Republic of Korea and the US, and one each from China and Japan.
Small companies use the patent system to encourage innovation
In 2024, 22% of European patent applications were filed by individuals or SMEs (less than 250 employees), and 7% of European patent applications were filed by universities and R&D institutions. This demonstrates the attractiveness of the patent system for smaller entities, which was further strengthened by the April fee reduction at the EPO for micro-enterprises, individuals, non-profit organizations, universities and research institutions.
One in four applications has a woman as the inventor
In 2024, 25% of all applications from Europe listed at least one woman as the inventor. Among the larger countries by number of applications (>2,000), Spain leads with 42% of applications listing al least one woman as the inventor, followed by Belgium (32%) and France (31%).
Unitary patent exceeds expectations in the second year of implementation
The Unitary Patent System, launched in 2023, continues to gain momentum, providing innovators with simpler and more accessible patent protection in 18 EU member states, by filing a single application with the EPO. Unitary patent protection was requested for 25.6% of all European patents granted in 2024, with over 28,000 applications – 53% increase compared to 2023 (18,300 applications). Applicants from EPO member states have the highest rate of use of the system, (36.5%), followed by those from the Republic of Korea (18.9%) and China (17.9%), both countries showing significant growth, followed by the USA (16.0%) and Japan (7.9%). The largest users among companies were Johnson & Johnson, Siemens, Samsung, Qualcomm and Volvo Group. Smaller entities are even more likely to use the system, with European SMEs and universities having a usage rate of 57.5%.
Find out more at the EPO website.