Record patent applications at EPO driven by digital and energy technologies

The European Patent Office (EPO) received a record 201,974 patent applications in 2025, up 1.4% on 2024, according to its revamped Technology Dashboard. Demand was fuelled by digital and energy technologies, with the US and Germany remaining the top countries of origin, and China entering the top three for the first time. Applications from Europe rose by 0.4% (EU27: +0.7%), while those from outside Europe grew by 2.1%.

Computer technology remained the leading field with 17,844 applications (+6.1%), boosted by AI (+9.5%) and fast‑growing quantum technologies (+37.9%). Digital communication, including 6G-related inventions, ranked second and showed the strongest growth (+11.4%). Electrical machinery, apparatus, energy reached 16,997 applications (+5.3%), driven by a 14.6% increase in patent applications for battery technologies.

Medical technologies rose slightly (+1.3%), while biotechnology (-3.3%) and pharmaceuticals (-6.3%) declined, underlining the relevance of new EU initiatives on SPCs and biomanufacturing. European innovators led in eight of the top ten technology fields.

Gender diversity also improved: 26% of European applications named at least one woman inventor.

The Unitary Patent system gained further traction, with unitary protection requested for 34,357 patents (28.7% of all grants). Uptake was particularly strong among European SMEs and research institutions (48.3%), and is rising among non-European patentees, notably from China.

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