Digital and clean-energy tech drives record growth in patent filings at EPO

Report shows that 2022 saw “astonishing” boom in clean energy and batteries | “Relentless” growth in patent applications in digital tech and semiconductors reflect a trend towards a “smarter future” | Overall record growth in patent filings of 2.5% includes growing share by countries outside Europe.

Innovation in digital and so-called ‘clean’-energy technologies were the main drivers of a record increase in patent filings at the European Patent Office (EPO), according to a report released today, March 28.

The EPO’s Patent Index 2022 shows that the office received 193,460 applications last year—a “modest” increase of 2.5% on 2021.

The findings reveal that applications for electrical machinery, apparatus and energy patents—a field that includes clean-energy inventions and battery technology—grew most rapidly by 18.2% to nearly 14,000.