Archive:Patent statistics

Data from September 2008, most recent data: Further Eurostat information, Main tables and Database.

Graph 1: Patent applications to the European Patent Office (EPO), EU (number of applications)

Intellectual property rights and in particular patents provide a link between innovation, inventions and the marketplace. Applying for a patent makes an invention public, but at the same time gives it protection. A count of patents is one measure of a country’s inventive activity and also shows its capacity to exploit knowledge and translate it into potential economic gains. In this context, indicators based on patent statistics are widely used to assess the inventive and innovative performance of a country. This article takes a look at patent applications and grants in the European Union (EU) and some other European countries.

Main statistical findings

Table 1: Patent applications to the European Patent Office (EPO) and patents granted by the USPTO

Patent applications to the EPO

Annual EU-27 patent applications to the European Patent Office (EPO) increased significantly from 1995 to 2000 to reach 51,158 with the number of applications increasing, on average, by 11.6 % per year (see Graph 1). Subsequently, this steady upward trend stagnated and there was little change in the number of annual applications through to another relative peak in 2004 (52,968 patent applications). The latest information for 2005 shows a reduction in applications to the EPO of 6.1 % with a total of 49,730 applications made that year.

Among the EU Member States, Germany had by far the highest number of patent applications to the EPO amounting to 22,219 in 2005 (44.7 % of the EU total). As Table 1 shows, in relative terms, Germany was also the Member State with the highest number of patent applications per million inhabitants (269), followed by Finland (223) and Luxembourg (189).

EU-27 high-tech patent applications to the EPO represented an increasing share of total patent applications up until 2001 when they accounted for 18.5 % of all applications. Their relative importance declined after this, as did their absolute number. From a high of 9,337 high-tech patent applications in 2001, there was a relatively slow reduction through to 2004, followed by a collapse in the number of high-tech applications in 2005, when they fell from 8,484 in 2004 to 3,192 a year later (a reduction of 62.4 %). This pattern was observed among a majority of the Member States and particularly for the larger countries or in those countries with traditionally the highest propensity to make patent applications. Germany and Belgium registered the highest number of high-technology patent applications per million inhabitants in 2005, the figures for both countries being just over 15, while Sweden and France were the only other Member States to record a ratio in double-digits. These figures were in stark contrast to the data for most of the previous decade, when Finland and Sweden were clearly the most active countries in this area.

Data sources and availability

Following changes in the production of patent statistics at Eurostat in 2007, data shown on the Eurostat website are no longer fully comparable with data previously disseminated. From 2007 onwards, Eurostat’s production of European Patent Office (EPO) and United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) data has been based almost exclusively on the EPO Worldwide Statistical Patent Database (PATSTAT). This was developed by the EPO in 2005, using their collection and knowledge of patent data. Patent data in this section are provided by EPO, while data for USPTO are provided by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD).

European patent applications refer to applications filed directly under the European Patent Convention or to applications filed under the Patent Co-operation Treaty (PCT) and designated to the EPO (Euro-PCT), regardless of whether the patents are granted or not. For patent applications to the EPO all direct applications (EPO-direct) are taken into account, but among the PCT applications (applications following the procedure laid down by the PCT) made to the EPO, only those that have entered into the regional phase are counted. Patent applications are counted according to the priority date (the year in which they were filed anywhere in the world) at the EPO and are broken down according to the International patent classification (IPC). Applications are assigned to a country according to the inventor’s place of residence, using fractional counting if there are multiple inventors to avoid double counting. To normalise the data, the total number of applications at the EPO is divided by the national population and expressed in terms of patent applications per million inhabitants.

High-technology patents are counted following the criteria established by the trilateral statistical report, where the following technical fields are defined as high technology groups in accordance with the International patent classification (IPC):

Computer and automated business equipment;
Micro-organism and genetic engineering;
Aviation;
Communication technology;
Semiconductors;
Lasers.

A patent application to the EPO can be valid in several countries and at most in all of the Contracting States of the European Patent Convention. In July 2009, the Convention was in force in 36 countries (all EU Member States plus Switzerland, Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway, Monaco, San Marino, Croatia, the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia and Turkey). In addition to the Contracting States, three other countries (Albania, Serbia and Bosnia and Herzegovina) have concluded an ‘extension agreement’ with the EPO, by which these states can also be designated in a European patent application.

The falling trend in patent applications between 2000 and 2005 is linked to the length of patenting procedures and should not be interpreted as a real decline in patenting activity. For this reason the 2005 figures in Eurostat’s reference database are flagged as provisional.

In contrast to EPO data, the USPTO data refers to patents granted and data are recorded by year of publication as opposed to the year of filing. Patents are allocated to the country of the inventor, using fractional counting in the case of multiple inventor countries. The methodology used is not harmonised with that of Eurostat and therefore comparisons between EPO and USPTO patents data should be interpreted with caution.

What is new?

Eurostat / KUL: DATA PRODUCTION METHODS FOR HARMONIZED PATENT STATISTICS: PATENTEE SECTOR ALLOCATION

In addition to the ‘Method for harmonizing applicant's names’ the K.U. Leuven and Eurostat published in 2006 also a working paper on a method for sector allocation (Van Looy, B., du Plessis, M. & Magerman, T. (2006) Data Production Methods for Harmonized Patent Indicators: Assignee sector allocation. Eurostat Working Paper and Studies, Luxembourg). This method on assignee sector allocation has been reviewed and improved recently. The latest results are available in the following working document ‘Evolution of innovation actors and the influence of legislation’.

In applying numerous rules based on keywords and/or clues patent applications are classified to five different institutional sectors. The following sectors have been used:

individual applicant
firms or business enterprise
government (agencies) and (private or public) non-profit organizations
university/higher education
hospitals.

More than 85% of all patent applications to the EPO are made by the business enterprises sector. For around 9% of the patent applications individual applicants can be identified. Whereas the patenting activity of the hospital sector is very small the patent applications of the remaining two sectors make up respectively about 2%. However one should bear in mind that these percentages are calculated for all patent applications to the EPO. This implies that the results may vary significantly across countries. The working document focuses on the higher education sector and studies the role of legislation on the patenting activity in this sector. The full methodology is described in the recent Eurostat working document 'DATA PRODUCTION METHODS FOR HARMONIZED PATENT STATISTICS: PATENTEE SECTOR ALLOCATION (2009)and will be published soon in the Eurostat series "Methodologies and Working papers".

Conference on Patent Statistics for Decision Makers, Vienna, 7-8 October 2009

Flyer: Conference on Patent statistics for Decision Makers

A conference organised by the European Patent Office (EPO) and the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) in co-operation with the DIME Network of Excellence, EPIP, Eurostat, Japan Patent Office (JPO), US National Science Foundation (NSF), United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) and World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) took place in Vienna, Austria on 7 and 8 October 2009.

Patent data and patent statistics are one important way of measuring innovation and science and technology-related activities, but they can also reveal important information about the patent system and its performance.

The goal of this conference was to discuss advances in the analysis of patent information in the context of the current economic landscape, and in light of changes within the patent system and its use by applicants. The conference brought together the latest thinking on issues relevant to companies and policy-makers. In particular, the conference emphasized how patent data can be used in decision-making about R & D investments, in assessing the competitive environment of certain technologies and in formulating policy reform for the system in order to adapt it to a changing economic environment.

The conference attracted around 130 people. Participating target groups included:

experts, statisticians and analysts working in the fields of innovation, patents, and science and technology policies, including academics and researchers using patent data for economic and policy analysis
policy analysts dealing with innovation and patent policies
national, regional and international patent institutions
business professionals specializing in patent statistics and valuation
business and intellectual property analysts
national statistical institutes (and Eurostat)

For more information: Patent Statistics for Decision Makers conference website.

Context

Patents are generally used to protect R & D results, but they are also significant as a source of technical information, which may prevent re-inventing and re-developing ideas because of a lack of information. However, the use of patents is relatively restricted within the EU. There are a number of possible reasons for this including:

their relative cost;
the overlap between national and European procedures;
the need for translation into foreign languages.

Most studies in this area show that innovative enterprises tend to make more use of intellectual property protection than companies that do not innovate. Enterprise size and the economic sector in which an enterprise operates are also likely to play an important role in determining whether an enterprise chooses to protect its intellectual property.

The European Council held in Lisbon in March 2000 called for the creation of a Community patent system to address shortcomings in the legal protection of inventions, while providing an incentive for investments in R & D and contributing to the competitiveness of the economy as a whole. In July 2000 the European Commission made a first proposal for the creation of a Community patent. This was discussed at various levels and despite a number of proposals and amendments for a Council Regulation on the Community patent during 2003 and 2004 no legal basis was forthcoming. In April 2007 the European Commission released a Communication ’Enhancing the patent system in Europe’. This demonstrates that the European patent system is more expensive, uncertain and unattractive compared to patent systems in competitor states. The report also underlined the European Commission's belief that a more competitive and attractive Community patent system can be achieved, based upon the creation of a unified and specialised patent judiciary, with competence for litigation on European patents and future Community patents.

Further Eurostat information

Publications

Main tables

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Patent statistics

Patent applications to the European Patent Office (EPO)

Database

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