Huawei top filer at EPO in 2017
A Chinese company has filed the most European patent applications over the course of a year for the first time, according to a report from the European Patent Office (EPO).
The EPO’s “ Annual Report 2017” was released today, March 7.
Electronics company Huawei claimed the top filing spot bumping Siemens into second place ahead of competitors LG, Samsung and Qualcomm. Huawei applied for 2,398 patents in 2017 and Siemens for 2,220.
Applications from Chinese entities increased by 16.6% last year, making China the EPO’s fifth most active country from which patent applications originated in 2017. China was beaten only by the US, Japan, Germany, and France.
Speaking to WIPR Robert Watson, partner at IP firm Mewburn Ellis, said: "Although the volume of applications from China has been growing, the proportion of granted European patents that originate from China is still small (3%). Compared to the US at 24% and Japan at 17%, the effect will not be marked for a number of years to come."
Another non-European country which saw increased patent applications with the EPO last year was Turkey, with a huge growth of 74.9%.
Watson speculated that the figures could show an increased awareness by Turkish businesses of the importance of protecting their IP rights.
"The rate of filing of national patent applications in Turkey by Turkish applicants has been rising steadily (from 1,216 in 2006 to 6,740 in 2016, according to statistics from the World Intellectual Property Organization), as has the number of applications they file outside Turkey (426 in 2006 to 1,624 in 2016)," he added.
Just under half (47%) of the EPO’s applications last year were from European countries, and 26% originated in the US. Overall the EPO received a total of 166,000 European patent applications in 2017, representing an increase of 3.9% and a record high for the office.
The medical technology field attracted the greatest number of patent applications at the EPO in 2017, with an increase of 6.2% from 2016. Digital communication and computer technology were the second and third most popular fields.
Luxury car manufacturer Rolls-Royce filed 372 patent applications, making the British company the UK’s number one patent applicant for the third consecutive year..
The car manufacturer’s placing as the top UK patent applicant was perhaps unsurprising in 2015 and 2016: transport was the technology field which attracted the most applications from the UK in these two years. Transport accounted for 7% of UK-originating patent applications at the EPO in 2016.
Last year medical technology took the top spot from transport in the UK. Patent applications in the field increased by 7.1%, and applications related to transport technology decreased by 9.3%. Transport is now the UK’s third most important technology field at the EPO.
Watson said the increase in patent filing in the sphere of medical technologies could be an early reflection of the UK's recent focus on the life sciences industry, for example through the Life Sciences Sector Deal and the Life Sciences Industrial Strategy.
As a whole, UK parties made 5,313 patent applications to the EPO last year, equating to a 2.4% increase from 2016. The average year-on-year growth for members of the EU was 2.6%, with most European countries filing more applications in 2017.
Belgium was identified as the only large European economy to experience a drop, by 1.9%.
Benoît Battistelli, president of the EPO, said 2017 was a “positive year” for patents in Europe and that the “growing demand for European patents confirms Europe’s attractiveness as a leading technology market”.
European companies filed more patents than ever before, which is “evidence of their strength in innovation”, Battistelli continued.
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