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Strong growth of Korean patent filings at the European Patent Office in 2013

European Patent Office
2014-03-06 17:00 2716
  • European Patent Office (EPO) receives record numbers of patent filings
  • Korean patent filings at the EPO grew by 14% over 2012 to highest figure ever
  • Samsung again No. 1 of all patent filing companies
  • Korean share of patent filings increases to 6.3% of total filings
  • EPO President Benoit Battistelli: "Europe is a premier hub of innovation."

BRUSSELS, March 6, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- Patent filings at the European Patent Office (EPO) hit a new record in 2013, with applications coming from Korea growing strongly by 14% (2012: +11.6%). Last year Korean companies filed 16 857 or 6.3% of all European patent filings (2012: 14 791), which ranks Korea No. 5 among all countries at the EPO. It is the highest number of patents ever filed by Korean companies at the EPO within one year.

In the past ten years, European patent filings from Korea grew an average 12.8% per year. Since 2004 the number of these filings has almost tripled (Filings in 2004: 5 721).

"Demand for patent protection in Europe is up for the fourth consecutive year," said EPO President Benoit Battistelli. "This growth is also proof that companies from around the world continue to see Europe more and more as a premier hub of innovation. The strong rankings of patent-intense technologies once more underline the central role of these industry sectors for employment and growth in the EU economy, and elsewhere".

Samsung in the lead globally, LG No. 4

Samsung is the biggest Korean filer and the No. 1 at the EPO with 2 833 patent applications, followed by Siemens (1 974), Philips (1 839), LG (1 648), BASF (1 577), Bosch (1 574), and Mitsubishi (1 327).

Korean companies stand out in three technology fields: Computer technology, where 9% of all patents applications were coming from Korean companies, Digital communications, with Korea's share being 8%, and Electrical machinery, with a Korean share of 7%. Apart from Samsung, the largest filers from Korea were LG and the Electronics and Telecommunications Research Institute.

In total the EPO received 265 000 patent filings last year, 2.8% more than in 2012 and a new all-time high. Japan and the US again had the bulk of filings at the EPO. While filings from Europe remained stable overall, the drivers of growth were Korea (+14%) and China (+16%). Filings from the US (+2.8%) and Japan (+1.2%) grew slower, but from higher levels.

The strong growth in Korea contrasts with a drop in filings in other countries: Switzerland (-2%), Italy (-2.7%), UK (-3%), Germany (-5.4%), Belgium (-7.4%), filed fewer applications while Denmark (+8%), Ireland (+9%), and the Netherlands (+17%) were showing significant increases over 2012.

The EPO also granted 66 700 European patents last year, an increase of 1.6% over 2012 and the highest number ever. In total, 1 989 patents were granted to Korean companies, 11.4% more than in 2012.

www.epo.org

Source: European Patent Office
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