On March 28, 2023, the European Patent Office (EPO) issued the 2022 Patent Index (Patent Index 2022). According to EPO statistics, over 193,000 patent applications were filed with the European Patent Office in 2022, an increase of 2.5%, which sets a new record.

Growth in EPO patent applications in 2022 were benefited primarily by applications from China (+15.1% compared to 2021), more than doubling over the past five years, followed by the US (+2.9%) and the Republic of Korea (+10.0%).

In terms of applicant countries, the top 5 countries for patent applications of the EPO in 2022 are the United States (24.9%, accounting for about a quarter), Germany (12.8%), Japan (11.2%), and China (9.8%, accounting for about a quarter). 4th) and France (5.6%). As a whole, EU countries account for the highest proportion of patent applications at the EPO in 2022, reaching 43.4%.

Expanding the ranking of EPO patent applications in 2022 to TOP50, there are a total of 9 Chinese companies on the list. Except for the above-mentioned 4 companies in the TOP25 list, there are 5 Chinese companies shortlisted. Among which, BOE (598 cases) ranked 29th, VIVO (563 cases) and Baidu (562 cases) ranked 35th and 36th respectively, Xiaomi (459 cases) ranked 45th, CATL (448 cases) ranked 48th.

From IPRdaily

April 3rd, 2023