Fewer European Patents Filed In 2009

by Glen Shapiro, LawAndTax-News.com, New York

28 April 2010

The number of European patent applications filed last year fell for the first time in 20 years, according to data released by the European Patent Office (EPO).

In 2009, the EPO received some 135,000 applications, 8% fewer than in 2008 (146,600). The drop in the number of filings from outside the 36 member states of the EPO was sharper (-11%) than in filings from European countries (-5%). At 52,000, the number of patents granted was also lower than in 2008 (59,800, -13%).

Patent examiners at the EPO carried out 102,200 examinations (an increase of 13.1% over 2008), which resulted in the grant of 52,000 patents, 13.1% less than in 2008. The grant rate for European patents fell to 42%, against 49.5% in 2008.

In 24% of the procedures, patent applicants decided not to pursue their applications or abandoned them after having received an initial opinion from the EPO on the patentability of the claimed invention, 2% higher than in 2008. Moreover, 34% of the examination procedures carried out by the Office ended with a withdrawal of the application by the applicant or a refusal by the examiner to grant a patent, 6% higher than in 2008. At 5,200 the number of refusals in 2009 was 18% higher than in 2008.

The opposition rate in 2009 was 4.7%, for the first time falling under 5%, as fewer European patents were challenged by third parties after grant.

Just over half of the total patent applications (51%) received by the EPO in 2009 came from the Organization's member states. Germany once again topped the table with 18.7% (25,100 applications, -6% compared to 2008) of the total applications, followed by France with 6.6% (8,900 applications, -2%) and the Netherlands with 5% (6,700 applications, -8%). All of the major European filing countries saw a drop in activity in 2009 except for Sweden and Austria, which remained stable. The sharpest declines were noted in Finland (-20%, 1,400 applications), Belgium (-14%, 1,600 applications) and Italy (-11%, 3,900 applications).

A number of European economies with fewer patent applications, however, showed positive developments in 2009. Filing activity grew in Portugal (107 applications, +26%), the Czech Republic (136 applications, +24%), Greece (103, +16%), Luxembourg (293, +7%), Hungary (114, +6%), Poland (173, +2%), and Ireland (490) and Norway (489), both with a +1% increase.

Among non-European countries, the US and Japan were once again by far the largest countries of origin of European patent applications, with the US accounting for 24.5% of the total (2008: 25.5%) and Japan for 14.8% (2008: 15.7%), whilst South Korean applicants accounted for 3.1% (2008: 3%).

In absolute terms, US companies filed 33,000 European patent applications (2008: 37 400, -11%), 20,000 came from Japan (2008: 23,100, -14%) and 4,200 from South Korea (2008: 4,300, -4%). With a total of 1,600 European filings, China saw a growth of 9% over 2008 and continues to rank among the five most active non-European applicant countries.

The largest number of patent applications was filed in the field of medical technology (12.2% of the total in 2009). The filing figures went down in all of the usual leading technical fields, but especially in basic electric elements with 1,240 applications (14% fewer than in 2008), electric communication techniques with 1,080 (-7.3%) and computing 1,050 (-11%). The field of fluid powered machines saw the biggest growth (+36% over last year).

In the area of renewable energies, the number of applications in relevant domains, namely biomass, hydro/tide/wave, photovoltaic, solar thermal and wind energy, increased significantly (+27%) to reach 1,259 (2008: 993). This corresponds to 0.9% of the total of all applications at the EPO (2008: 0.7%). The biggest increases were noted in the areas of wind energy (432 applications, +51%) and solar thermal energy (199, +38%). In both categories, applicants from the US (27% of wind and 12% of solar thermal applications) and Germany (23% wind, 34% solar thermal) headed the table. Of the 363 applications filed in photovoltaics, 108 (30%) came from Japan, 77 from the US (21%) and 46 from Germany (13%).

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