European patent office reports rise in demand for patent protection
Demand for patent protection is on the increase, according to the latest statistics from the European Patent Office (EPO). It reports a record total number of 193,600 patent applications for 2005, a 7.2 per cent increase on the previous year. The number of grant procedures which were initiated as a result of applications also rose, from around 123,700 in 2004 to 128,700 in 2005. Of these, some 63,650 came from the 31 member countries of the EPO, while 32,700 and 21,500 originated from the USA and Japan respectively. This upward trend looks to continue in 2006. 'For the current year we expect a further increase in patent applications. The signs are that we shall pass the 200,000 mark for the first time,' said EPO President, Alain Pompidou. Although the proportion of applications from Europe remained unchanged at 49.5 per cent, strong growth was seen in a number of European countries. Most active was Germany, which was responsible for 18.5 per cent of the total applications, followed by France, with 6.2 per cent. The Netherlands, at 7,800 recorded the biggest rise in application filings. The figure was up by 800 on 2004, bringing its share of the total to 6.1 per cent. Growth was also significant in Switzerland, Italy, Denmark and Belgium, whereas the figures for the United Kingdom and Finland were slightly down on the previous year. Outside of Europe, filing applications was also strong in South Korea, China, India, Brazil and South Africa. The proportion of applications in the ten technical fields with particularly high levels of patent activity also showed a slight increase, from 55.5 in 2004 to just under 56 per cent. Medical technology accounted for 11.4 per cent of the total applications, followed by electronic communications (10 per cent), data processing (6.7 per cent) and vehicle technology (3.2 per cent). Germany took the lead in terms of patents received from the EPO with a total 12,500, followed by France with 3,740 and the United Kingdom with 2,150. A total of 13,000 European patents went to US applicants, while 9,550 went to their Japanese counterparts.