The European Patent Office-EPO has published the EPO Patent Index 2023, i.e. the statistical analysis of patent activities at the office referring to 2023. In 2023, the EPO received 199,275 patent applications, an absolute record to date, which is 2.9% more than in 2022.
Eight of the ten most active technology sectors are experiencing an increase in filings, with the sectors showing the greatest growth are electrical machinery, manufactured goods and energy (+12.2% compared to 2022, fourth place), digital communication (+8.6%, first place) and biotechnology (+5.9%, at the eighth position). The top countries of origin of the most active patent applications are the United States, Germany, Japan, China and Korea. 23% of the patent applications received come from SMEs or individual inventors, 8% from universities/public research centers and in any case,, these are higher values than in 2022; the remaining come from Large Ccompanies.