NEW YORK, April 6, 2025 — According to the Patent Index 2024, which was released today, businesses and inventors across the globe submitted 199,264 patent applications to the European Patent Office (EPO) in the previous year. The level of patent activity remained high, nearly matching the prior year (2023: 199,452, -0.1%) after experiencing considerable growth for three years. Patent applications originating from Europe, encompassing all 39 EPO member states, saw a rise of 0.3%, whereas applications from outside Europe experienced a minor decrease (-0.4%).
EPO President António Campinos stated, “Despite unstable political and economic conditions, European businesses and inventors increased their patent filings last year, which emphasizes their technological capabilities and continuous investment in research and development. The EPO’s patent data serves as a precise guide for industry, policy development, and investment choices. As highlighted in the Draghi and Letta reports, Europe needs to strengthen its innovation ecosystem to maintain global competitiveness and enhance its support for inventors to scale and commercialize their inventions, particularly in vital fields like green technologies, AI, and semiconductors.”
Computer technology takes the lead
Computer technology, encompassing AI areas such as machine learning and pattern recognition, topped the list for the first time with 16,815 patent applications in 2024. Electrical machinery, apparatus, energy exhibited the largest increase in the past year (+8.9% compared to 2023), primarily driven by progress in clean energy technologies, especially battery innovations (+24.0%).
Global trends
The United States remained the leading country for European patent applications, followed by Germany, Japan, China, and the Republic of Korea. EPO member states accounted for 43% of the applications, while 57% came from outside Europe (see graph ). Notably, R. Korea recorded the highest growth (+4.2%), China saw an increase of 0.5%, while the US (-0.8%) and Japan (-2.4%) saw fewer applications from their companies and inventors.
Diverse sources of innovation: Large companies are major contributors
Samsung emerged as the top applicant at the EPO in 2024 (last holding the top position in 2020), while Huawei fell to second place, followed by LG, Qualcomm, and RTX. The top 10 list 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 the patent applications submitted to the EPO from Europe originated from individual inventors or SMEs (companies with fewer than 250 employees), with an additional 7% coming from universities and public research organizations (see graph ). This underscores the appeal of the patent system to smaller entities, which has been further reinforced by the EPO’s April 2024 reduction in fees for micro-enterprises, individuals, non-profits, universities, and research institutions.
One in four patent applications includes a woman inventor
In 2024, 25% of all patent applications to the EPO from Europe listed at least one woman as an inventor. Among the major filing countries (with over 2,000 applications), Spain led with 42%, followed by Belgium (32%) and France (31%).
SOURCE European Patent Office (EPO)
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