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European Patent Office Reports Filings Up 11%

According to statistics released by the European Patent Office (EPO), patent filings in the EPO have markedly increased since 2009. Last year, the EPO received about 235,000 patent applicaions, up 11% from 2009, making it the the highest number in the EPO’s history. About 40% of the filings came from member states, with Germany leading with 14% of the applications filed.

Of the top 50 applicants, 21 were from Europe. In terms of applications filed, the top 10 companies were:

1.  Siemens (2,135)

2.  Philips (1,765)

3.  BASF (1,707)

4.  Samsung (1,691)

5.  Qualcomm (1,682)

6.  Panasonic (1,400)

7.  Robert Bosch (1,400)

8.  SONY (1,286)

9.  LG (1,263)

10.  Bayer (1,123)

Among non-European countries, the US (26%) and Japan (18%) led in number of filings. South Korea accounted for 5%. The fastest growth in applications came from South Korea (+21%) and China (+54%).