ECJ EUROPEAN Cleaning Journal

Applications for European patents were at a record high last year, exceeding pre-crisis levels of 2008 for the first time. But also for the first time in the history of the European Patent Office, most patents were filed by a non-European firms.

Last year the European Patent Office received a total of 257,744 patent filings from all over the world, representing a 5.2 per cent increase over 2011 (244,934) and setting a new record. The Munich-based office also published 65,687 granted patents, 5.8 per cent more than in 2011 (62,115).

In all Asian companies accounted for 12 of the top 25 companies applying for patents.

Chinese and Korean-based companies recorded the biggest increases - with 18,812 and 14,491 applications last year respectively - taking the fourth and fifth places for countries after the US, Japan and Germany.

Two years ago the two Asian countries applied for the same number of patents as France, which came in sixth place this year with 12,159 applications.