Patent Index 2024: Computer Technology the Leading Field in EPO Patent Filings

On 25 March 2025, the Patent Index 2024 was released by the European Patent Office (EPO). According to the report, demand for patents at the EPO remained robust in 2024 with 199,264 applications, maintaining the same high level seen in 2023 (199,452). In 2024, applicants from across the 39 EPO member states filed more patent applications than in the previous year (+0.3%). Notably, Korea saw the strongest growth (+4.2%) and China a 0.5% increase, while the US and Japan were in decline of 0.8% and 2.4% respectively.

By country of origin, the US, accounting for 24% of total filings, kept its top position for European patent applications, followed by Germany, Japan, China, and Korea. EPO member states altogether accounted for 43.3% of filings, while Korea, China and Japan contributed to 26% of filings.

For top applicants, Samsung, with 5,107 patent applications, resumed the top spot in 2024, having last topped the ranking in 2020, and Huawei (4,322) dropped to second, followed by LG (3,623), Qualcomm (3,015) and RTX (2,061). 

As for key fields of growth, computer technology, which includes areas of AI such as machine learning and pattern recognition, rose two places to become the top technology field with 16,815 patent applications (+3.3%) in 2024. Ranking second was electrical machinery, apparatus, energy (16,412), which saw the strongest growth last year (+8.9%), driven by advances in clean energy technologies. Meanwhile digital communication (15,983, -6.3%) fell from the top position in 2023 to the third in 2024, and medical technology, with a steep decline especially in pharmaceuticals (-13.2%), slipped to fourth place from second in the previous year.

The report also provided data on applications for unitary patents at EPO. Launched on 1 June 2023, the unitary patent system makes it possible for the patent holders, with a single request to the EPO, to get patent protection in all European Union (EU) members states participating in the system. In its second year, unitary patent, with 28,000 requests, was reported to continue gaining momentum, accounting for 25.6% of all European patents granted by the EPO in 2024.