The latest study of the European Patent Office (EPO), published by the Observatory on Patents and Technology, shows that the number of patent applications by public research organizations (PROs) in Europe almost doubled in the period between 2001 and 2020.
Over two decades, European public sector research organizations have filed almost 63,000 European patent applications, with the number of applications increasing annually from around 2,000 to 3,500. The research also points to a concentrated but diverse environment in which some institutions and countries are at the forefront of using the European patent system, while approaches to technology transfer and collaboration vary considerably.
EPO President Antonio Campinos highlighted the importance of public sector research organizations and hospitals for Europe`s competitiveness, stressing the need to accelerate cooperation and the transfer of research results into real and applicable technologies.
The research showed a concentration of patent activity in a smaller number of institutions – over two thirds of all the applications come from 16 most active organizations, The list is topped by Frances`s National Centre for Scientific Research (CNRS) with more than 10,200 patent applications, followed by France`s Alternative Energies and Atomic Energy Commission (CEA), and Germany`s Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft.
The study also showed that public sector research organizations are more successful than universities in commercializing research results-for every indirect patent filed by a third party, European public sector research organizations now file almost seven direct applications. This points to a strengthening of technology transfer structures and a greater ability of institutions to value and market their research.
Research-based hospitals in Europe have seen an increase in activity of almost 50% over the same period, with around 17,400 European patent applications, mainly in the fields of pharmaceuticals, biotechnology, medical technologies and diagnostics. The most active institutions are in France, Germany and the United Kingdom with Assistance Publique-Hopitaux de Paris (AP-HP) from France standing out as the leading research hospital in Europe.
Although the study confirmed strong collaboration between universities, research organizations, hospitals and industry, most of these partnerships remain national in nature, which indicates the continued fragmentation of the European research and innovation market. The introduction of the Unitary Patent – a European patent with unitary effect (Unitary Patent) in 2023, representing a concrete step towards overcoming of these challenges.
In addition, the EPO has expanded its free Deep Tech Finder tool, which now includes European public sector research organizations with granted or filed European patent applications. The tool allows investors to find startups ready for investment and currently contains profiles and patent portfolios of more than 10,400 European public research-based startups.
Find out more and read the study in full on the EPO website.
