Patent Index 2024: European innovation remains robust amid global economic uncertainties

Companies and inventors from around the world filed 199,264 patent applications at the European Patent Office (EPO) last year, according to the Patent Index 2024 published today. The high level of patenting activity was on a par with the previous year (2023: 199,452, -0.1%), following three years of significant growth. Patent applications from Europe, including all 39 EPO member states, rose by 0.3%, while those from outside Europe fell slightly (-0.4%).

Europe gains ground on US and Japan, China keeps pace

The United States maintained its position as the top country of origin for European patent applications, followed by Germany, Japan, China, and the Republic of Korea. EPO member states accounted for 43% of filings, while 57% came from outside Europe (see graph Origin of applications).

Patent applications from the 39 EPO member states were up +0.3%, boosted by growth from Switzerland (+3.2%) and the UK (+3.1%). Germany (+0.4%) and France (+1.1%), Europe’s top two filing countries, were up slightly in 2024. Applications from the EU27 countries were down on average by -0.4% (See chart Applications from EU member states).

R. Korea saw the strongest growth (+4.2%) among the leading filing countries, growth from China slowed to +0.5%, while companies and inventors from the US (-0.8%) and Japan (-2.4%) filed fewer applications.

“Despite political and economic uncertainties, European companies and inventors filed more patents last year, underlining their technological prowess and their continued investment in R&D,” said EPO President António Campinos. “The EPO’s patent data is a clear roadmap for industry, policy, and investment priorities. As the Draghi and Letta reports warn, to stay competitive globally, Europe must enhance its innovation ecosystem and do more to help inventors scale up and commercialise their inventions, especially in critical areas such as green technologies, AI and semiconductors.”

Surge in AI and battery innovation

Computer technology, which includes inventions related to AI, was the leading field at the EPO for the first time, with 16,815 patent applications in 2024. The US was on top, with 34% of European patent applications in this field last year. However, when it comes to AI-related patents (in areas such as machine learning and pattern recognition), which increased by 10.6% at the EPO last year, the 39 EPO member states had a share of 36%, compared to 28% from the US. And in the relatively small, but specialised area of quantum computing, Europe’s share increased to 50% in 2024, compared to 32% for the US.

The sector with the strongest growth overall at the EPO last year was Electrical machinery, apparatus, energy, up +8.9% compared to 2023. This trend was driven by advances in clean energy technologies, particularly battery innovation, which grew by 24.0% and accounted for 41% of the patent applications in this field. In battery-related patent applications, Europe held a 17% share, behind P.R. China (18%) and Republic of Korea (30%), but ahead of Japan (15%) and the US (7%). Meanwhile digital communication, which encompasses inventions related to mobile networks, saw a 6.3% decrease overall at the EPO. Here Europe has fallen slightly behind the US and China, the two leading countries.

European innovators active in wide range of technologies

Europe led in patent applications in 8 of the top 10 technology fields in 2024. Companies and inventors from the 39 EPO member states posted growth in patent applications in a number of these top sectors such as transport (+5.9%), which covers automotive, but also train and aviation/aerospace, and measurement (+2.2%), which includes advances in sensors. There were declines in patent applications from EPO countries in biotechnology (-1.8%), and in pharmaceuticals (-5.7%), but in the latter Europe was back in the lead ahead of the US, which saw a bigger drop.

Diverse sources of innovation: Large companies are major contributors

Samsung was the new leading applicant at the EPO in 2024 (having last topped the ranking in 2020), Huawei dropped to second, followed by LG, Qualcomm and RTX​. The top 10 includes four companies from Europe, two from R. Korea, two from the US, and one each from China and Japan.

Small companies use patent system to drive innovation

In 2024, 22% of patent applications to the EPO originating in Europe came from individual inventors or SMEs (fewer than 250 employees), with another 7% from universities and public research organisations (see graph Breakdown of applicants by category). This highlights the patent system’s appeal to smaller entities, further strengthened by the EPO’s April 2024 fee reductions for micro-enterprises, individuals, non-profits, universities, and research institutions.

One in four patent applications from Europe include a woman inventor

In 2024, 25% of all patent applications to the EPO coming from Europe named at least one woman as an inventor. Among major filing countries (over 2 000 applications), Spain led with 42%, followed by Belgium (32%) and France (31%).

Unitary Patent surpasses expectations in its second year

The Unitary Patent system, launched in 2023, continues to gain momentum, offering innovators simpler and more accessible patent protection across 18 EU Member States with a single request to the EPO. Unitary protection was requested for 25.6% of all European patents granted by the EPO in 2024 totalling over 28,000 requests, and up from 17.5% in 2023. Patentees from EPO member states had the highest uptake rate, with 36.5% of their European patents transformed into Unitary Patents, followed by those from Republic of Korea (18.9%) and China (17.9%) – which both saw a significant increase – then the US (16.0%), and Japan (7.9%). Top requestors were Johnson & Johnson, Siemens, Samsung, Qualcomm, and Volvo Group. Smaller entities are even more inclined to use the system, with European SMEs and universities having an uptake rate of 57.5%.

Interview with EPO spokesperson Luis Berenguer

What do you think has contributed to the resilience of European innovation, despite global economic uncertainties?

Patent applications from European companies were boosted by growth from Europe’s top two patent filing countries (France +1.1% and Germany, with +0.4%) but also from countries such as Switzerland (+3.2%), the UK (+3.1%), Spain (+3.0%) and Finland (+2.7%) - and countries with smaller patenting volumes - including Norway (+16.7%), Poland (+3.4%), Portugal (+4.8%) and Czech Republic (+5.4%).

The diversity of European innovation (from medical technology to computers to transport) means that the cyclical and societal evolutions of different technological fields does not impact the overall patenting landscape on the continent. In fact, Europe leads in 8 of the top 10 technical fields at the EPO in 2024. Last year European companies and inventors filed more patent applications in fields such as computer technology (+5.9% compared to 2023) and transport, which covers automotive, including e-vehicle technology (+4.8%).

European innovation is driven by a diverse range of applicants, ranging from big companies to SMEs and individual inventors to research institutions. In fact, 22% of all patent applications to the EPO in 2024 from Europe came from individual inventors or SMEs (companies with fewer than 250 employees), with another 7% from universities and public research organisations. The remaining 71% of European patent applications come from large enterprises.

• With AI-related patents seeing significant growth, how do you see Europe's position in the global AI innovation race compared to the US and China?

In the field of computer technology (which includes AI-related technologies) Europe trails the US and China in patent applications. However, looking at patent applications at the EPO specifically in AI, Europe accounted for the largest share in 2024, with 36%, ahead of the US with 28% and China with 13%. This lead is the result of consistent growth as compared to 2023, Europe has grown by 13% while both the US and Japan grew the most at 20%. It is also to be underlined that Looking at the top applicants, no European companies made it into the top five biggest applicants. The top five applicants at the EPO in AI are: Alphabet, Huawei, Samsung, Qualcomm and Microsoft.

Within Europe, France and Germany alone accounted for half of the AI patent applications but the leading European companies actually come from a broader range of countries: Germany, Sweden, Finland, the Netherlands and France.

Taking a closer look at Germany, the country is a “showcase” for the patenting development in Europe: Although it is not producing large individual applicants, it has three companies (Siemens, Robert Bosch, Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft) listed among the Top 25 applicants – and the AI segment saw a rise in Germany of +18% compared to 2023.

• Only one in four patent applications from Europe included a woman inventor. What steps can be taken to encourage greater gender diversity in innovation?

25% of all patent applications to the EPO coming from Europe named at least one woman as an inventor in 2024. Among major filing countries (over 2 000 applications a year), Spain led with 42%, followed by Belgium (32%) and France (31%). By field of technology, chemistry saw the biggest participation of women inventors, with 47% of applications naming at least one woman inventor. For mechanical engineering it was only 17%.

Germany is very good example for this: Only 20% of all patent applications filed by German inventors named at least one woman inventor. This can be explained to a large extent by Germany's greater specialisation in areas such as mechanical and electrical engineering, where the proportion of women inventors is traditionally lower. In addition, the private sector in Germany makes a relatively high contribution to patent activity compared to public research organisations or universities, where women are usually more strongly represented.

In 2022, the EPO conducted a study on with similar data: Two main stylised facts stood out from that analysis. As the Patent Index 2024 confirms, the gender gap varies across technologies and types of applicants. Generally speaking, the closer an innovative field is to the life sciences and the higher the weight of universities and public laboratories in patenting – the larger the share of women typically is. This suggests that the fields where the gender gap is more acute could usefully borrow from those where it is weaker, in terms of work practices and cultural acceptance.

Another finding of the study is, that the presence of women in patenting increases with the importance of teamwork, although women remain under-represented among team leaders. The importance of teamwork and collaboration is growing in all fields, due to the increasing division of intellectual labour that accompanies the accumulation of knowledge. This trend bodes well for the future of women in patenting and should be supported by appropriate policies and human resource management practices. Efforts to stimulate the international mobility of women scientists could be a promising lever in this context, in light of the higher women inventor rates observed among migrant inventors.

The European Patent Office recognizes that embracing science starts at school. In line with the EPO’s commitment to diversity, every year the Office invites girls aged 11 and older to the offices in the Hague and Munich for a day of hands-on workshops and inspiring presentations to empower them to explore their potential in the world of STEM.

Further information

• View the Patent Index 2024 in full
• Explore and customise statistics in the Statistics & Trends Centre
• Access Unitary Patent statistics via our dedicated dashboard
• Download datasets (MS Excel) in the Download data section of the statistics page
• Check patent trends on the go with the EPO Data Hub mobile app
• Read studies on innovation trends at the Observatory on Patents and Technology
• EPO’s support for SMEs, universities, non-profit organizations and other smaller applicants

Follow on social media: X | Facebook | LinkedIn | Instagram | YouTube

About the EPO

With 6,300 staff members, the European Patent Office (EPO) is one of the largest public service institutions in Europe. Headquartered in Munich with offices in Berlin, Brussels, The Hague and Vienna, the EPO was founded with the aim of strengthening co-operation on patents in Europe. Through the EPO's centralized patent granting procedure, inventors are able to obtain high-quality patent protection in up to 45 countries, covering a market of some 700 million people. The EPO is also the world's leading authority in patent information and patent searching.

Share this article: