“The number of patent applications … underscores that innovation was strong last year, despite economic uncertainty around the world.” – European Patent Office
Source: Patent Index 2022
US companies and inventors have filed more patent applications with the European Patent Office (EPO) than any other country, according to the EPO’s Patent Index 2022, released today. The index shows 48,088 US patent applications, up 2.9% from 2021. However, Chinese filings surged by 15.1% compared to 2021, keeping him in fourth place among the top five filing countries and closing the gap with the United States. 3rd largest filer in Japan.
The EPO has classified patent applications by country, company, technical field and region. California is the region with the most patent filings, accounting for one-third of US filings.
Overall, EPO patent filings increased by 2.5%, with the largest increases coming from China (15.1%) and South Korea (10%). Semiconductors and digital communications were the biggest growth areas in terms of technology.
According to the EPO, “the number of patent applications is an early indicator of companies’ investment in research and development and shows that innovation remained strong last year despite economic uncertainty around the world. increase.”
Advanced technology field
According to the EPO, US companies filed the most patents in the fields of medical technology, computer technology, digital communications, pharmaceuticals and biotechnology. The United States was ahead of other countries in medical technology, pharmaceuticals, and biotechnology.
Germany filed the second most patents in these three categories, but German companies pale in comparison to US patent filings. US companies have filed 5,866 European patent applications for him, more than 4,000 more than Germany.
Pharmaceutical patent filings are particularly prominent for US companies, accounting for 40% of patent filings in this category. These companies have filed 3,692 pharmaceutical patent applications. This is an increase of 5.5% each year, making him more than 3,000 more than in Germany.
The United States was also the clear leader with 2,756 biotechnology applications, about 2,000 more than Germany.
EPO President António Campinos said:
growing trend
The EPO saw a significant increase in the number of US companies applying to pharmaceutical companies, with the largest increases in the fields of digital communications and electromechanical, equipment and energy.
US companies filed 35.5% more patent applications for digital communication technologies than in 2021. This made the US the leader in this category with her 5,020 patent applications, with China a close second with her 4,705.
The electromechanical equipment and energy sector is the field consisting of the invention of clean energy technologies. US companies filed 18.1% more applications for this technology than in 2021.
“When it comes to the potential for green innovation, there is a strong and sustained increase in filings related to clean technologies and other means of generating, transmitting and storing electricity,” said Campinos.
Battle over semiconductors
The increasing competition over the semiconductor supply chain is also reflected in the EPO’s 2022 Patent Index.
Both the United States and China saw an increase of over 50% in European patent filings for semiconductors. Austria, Chinese Taipei and the Netherlands also saw significant increases in semiconductor patent filings. Campinos calls the sector’s growth “constant.”
The United States has been working on agreements with Japan and the Netherlands that would impose restrictions on the export of semiconductor technology to China. US politicians were also keen to increase domestic semiconductor production.
Major companies and regions
The increase in US patent filings was boosted by Qualcomm, which nearly doubled its European patent filings to 2,966 in 2022. Qualcomm became the top U.S. filer at the EPO and led patent filings in digital communications ahead of competitors such as Huawei and Samsung.
Raytheon filed 1,539 patent applications and was the EPO’s second largest US patent applicant. Alphabet was the third largest applicant in the US, with a 10% increase in filings.
Other US companies that increased patent filings include Johnson & Johnson (up 30.1%), Intel (29.9%), and Apple (55.4%).
By region, California was the clear winner with 16,139 European patent applications. Companies and inventors in California filed about as many patents as those from China. California patent filings were 85% Chinese and 75% Japanese.
California accounts for 33.6% of US patent filings with the EPO. The next highest states were Massachusetts (7.3% share), New York (5.4% share), and Texas (4.8% share).
