European Patent Office : Greece takes the 18th position among EU 28 member-states for 2014 of patent filings

26 February 2015

EPO President Benoît Battistelli presents the annual results at a press conference in Brussels

Patent filings at the EPO grew by 3.1% in 2014, hitting a new record high of over 274 000 (2013: 266 000). Among the EPO member states, the Netherlands, France and the UK showed significant growth, some countries like Germany and Sweden remained stable, while filings from countries such as Finland, Switzerland and Spain declined. The number of filings from China and the US grew strongly, while the number of filings from Japan fell. A total of 64 600 patents were granted by the EPO in 2014.

European patent filings per country of origin

Roughly a third of the total filings in 2014 came from the EPO member states and two-thirds from outside Europe. The top five countries were again the US, Japan, Germany, China and South Korea.
Looking at growth rates, patent filings from European countries rose slightly, with the performance of individual countries varying greatly. Among the large economies, China showed the biggest increase (with +18%), followed by the US, which was up nearly +7%, and Korea +2%.

Europe 28

	Country	2014	2013	Change
1	Germany	31 647	31 887	-0.8%
2	France	12 873	12 378	4%
3	Netherlands	8 104	7 430	9.1%
4	United Kingdom	6 823	6 510	4.8%
5	Sweden	5 132	5 130	0%
6	Italy	4 684	4 659	0.5%
7	Austria	2 501	2 393	4.5%
8	Spain	2 485	2 538	-2.1%
9	Finland	2 472	2 724	-9.3%
10	Denmark	2 352	2 306	2%
11	Belgium	2 264	2 223	1.8%
12	Ireland	709	718	-1.3%
13	Poland	701	577	21.5%
14	Luxembourg	584	558	4.7%
15	Czech Republic	273	283	-3.5%
16	Slovenia	214	190	12.6%
17	Hungary	190	205	-7.3%
18	Greece	186	154	20.8%
19	Portugal	183	170	7.6%
20	Malta	95	101	-5.9%
21	Slovakia	84	51	64.7%
22	Bulgaria	68	69	-1.4%
23	Cyprus	62	54	14.8%
24	Lithuania	58	50	16%
25	Croatia	54	44	22.7%
26	Estonia	52	43	20.9%
27	Romania	48	50	-4%
28	Latvia	27	91	-70.3%

EPO Member States

	Country	2014	2013	Change
1	Germany	31 647	31 887	-0.8%
2	France	12 873	12 378	4%
3	Netherlands	8 104	7 430	9.1%
4	Switzerland	7 890	8 139	-3.1%
5	United Kingdom	6 823	6 510	4.8%
6	Sweden	5 132	5 130	0%
7	Italy	4 684	4 659	0.5%
8	Austria	2 501	2 393	4.5%
9	Spain	2 485	2 538	-2.1%
10	Finland	2 472	2 724	-9.3%
11	Denmark	2 352	2 306	2%
12	Belgium	2 264	2 223	1.8%
13	Turkey	1 000	942	6.2%
14	Norway	820	825	-0.6%
15	Ireland	709	718	-1.3%
16	Poland	701	577	21.5%
17	Luxembourg	584	558	4.7%
18	Liechtenstein	399	372	7.3%
19	Czech Republic	273	283	-3.5%
20	Slovenia	214	190	12.6%
21	Hungary	190	205	-7.3%
22	Greece	186	154	20.8%
23	Portugal	183	170	7.6%
24	Malta	95	101	-5.9%
25	Slovakia	84	51	64.7%
26	Bulgaria	68	69	-1.4%
27	Cyprus	62	54	14.8%
28	Lithuania	58	50	16%
29	Croatia	54	44	22.7%
30	Estonia	52	43	20.9%
31	Iceland	50	54	-7.4%
32	Romania	48	50	-4%
33	Monaco	37	27	37%
34	Latvia	27	91	-70.3%
35	Serbia	22	31	-29%
36	San Marino	6	7	-14.3%
37	FYRO Macedonia	4	1	300%
38	Albania	3	1	200%

Top 25

Samsung again headed the list of top applicants, followed by Philipps and Siemens. Among the ten most active filers, five companies came from Europe, three from Asia, and two from the US. The majority of these companies work in the electronics and IT sectors.

You can find more at: http://www.epo.org/news-issues/news/2015/20150226.html