According to the EPO’s annual report, the EPO received 257,744 patent filings form all over the world compared to 244,934 the previous year. The US accounted for 25 per cent of all filings with Japan next registering 20 per cent. Germany came third with 13 per cent followed by China at 7 per cent and Korea at 6 per cent.

The report also reveals that European patent filings by European organisations grew by over 5 per cent with the UK leading the way, registering over 3 per cent and beating France and Germany which traditionally have filed more patents in Europe than their UK counterparts. 

Filings surpassing pre-crisis levels

Commenting, Bob Naismith, UK managing partner at  Marks & Clerk said: “The increase in European patent applications last year is encouraging news for business here in the UK and the rest of Europe. After a post-2008 dip, when R&D budgets were scaled back and fewer inventions were being protected, we are seeing a steady increase in patent filings, which have now surpassed pre-crisis levels.

“It comes as little surprise that the growth in patent filings by European and US companies is less than by Asian companies. The growth of economies like China is no longer headline news, and it is well known that companies in China, South Korea and Japan are very keen to protect their innovations here in Europe. This is a trend that we are seeing in terms of referrals from our Asian network of offices into our European network,” he added.