EPO Patent Index 2019: Patent Filings from China See a Nearly 30% Rise
The Patent Index 2019 was recently published by the European Patent Office (EPO), according to which a record 181,000 patent applications were filed with the EPO in 2019, representing an increase of 4% from 2018.
The top five countries, by number of patent applications filed with the EPO during the year, were the US (46,201 applications), Germany (26,805), Japan (22,066), China (12,247), and France (10,163). In terms of growth, China and Korea saw the steepest year-on-year growth of 29.2% and 14.1% respectively, followed by Sweden, the UK, and Ireland of 8%, 6.9%, and 6.3% respectively.
As noted by EPO's chief economist Mr. Yann Ménière, digital communication was the new top technology field at the EPO, reflecting the rapid development of 5G technologies. Apart from the US and Europe, China was also an active region of origin, accounting for roughly a quarter of the year's patent applications at the EPO in the field. Besides digital communication, computer technology and electrical machinery, apparatus, energy were also the popular fields of patent applications from China.
During the year, the top five patent applicants at the EPO (based on their direct European applications together with international (PCT) applications that entered the European phase) were Huawei (3,524 applications), Samsung (2,858), LG (2,817), United Technologies (2,813), and Siemens (2,619).
