How Industry 4.0 is driving global patent applications

The so-called Fourth Industrial Revolution and the FRAND licensing landscape are leading to a significant growth in patent applications. Tom Furnival of Mewburn Ellis reports.

The Fourth Industrial Revolution, also known as 4IR or Industry 4.0, is widely considered to mean the automation of traditional manufacturing and industrial processes using modern smart technology.

It has been driven by the development of key technologies in the fields of telecommunications and processing. Innovation has also become more commercially feasible due to the drop in the cost of processing powers that can deliver connectivity on a scale not seen before.

A report by the European Patent Office (EPO), “Patents and the Fourth Industrial Revolution—the global technology trends enabling the data-driven economy”, released on December 10, provides evidence of an explosive growth in innovation stemming from the global data economy.