UK files fewer patent applications in Europe

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The volume of patent applications filed by UK businesses in Europe fell by 6.8 per cent in 2020, according to data from the European Patent Office.

The fall in UK patent filing activity to 5,715 applications has been mirrored by other Western countries, notably the Netherlands (8.2 per cent) and Spain (five per cent). Strong growth can be seen in the importance of European patents for Chinese and South Korean innovators who filed 9.9 per cent and 9.2 per cent more applications respectively compared to the previous year. The UK does, however, retain a three per cent share of the total number of patent applications received by the EPO in 2019/20.

Study highlights rise in battery tech patents

In recent years the number of applications originating in the UK has grown with an increase of 6.4 per cent in 2018/19 and 8.3 per cent in 2017/18.

Unilever was the top UK company; filing 528 patent applications at the EPO in 2020. Rolls Royce was in second place, filing 299 patent applications. Other top UK filers included Advanced New Technologies (282 filings), Linde (182 filings) and BAE Systems (159 filings).

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