•  
Code EP Member state
 		 Since
 
AL
 		 Albania
 		 1 May 2010
 
AT Austria
 		 1 May 1979
 
BE
 		 Belgium
 		 7 October 1977
 
BG
 		 Bulgaria
 		 1 July 2002
 
CH Switzerland
 		 7 October 1977
 
CY Cyprus
 		 1 April 1998
 
CZ
 		 Czech Republic
 		 1 July 2002
 
DE
 		 Germany
 		 7 October 1977
 
DK
 		 Denmark
 		 1 January 1990
 
EE
 		 Estonia
 		 1 July 2002
 
ES
 		 Spain
 		 1 October 1986
 
FI
 		 Finland
 		 1 March 1996
 
FR
 		 France
 		 7 October 1977
 
GB
 		 United Kingdom
 		 7 October 1977
 
GR
 		 Greece
 		 1 October 1986
 
HR
 		 Croatia
 		 1 January 2008
 
HU
 		 Hungary
 		 1 January 2003
 
IE
 		 Ireland
 		 1 August 1992
 
IS
 		 Iceland
 		 1 November 2004
 
IT
 		 Italy
 		 1 December 1978
 
LI
 		 Liechtenstein
 		 1 April 1980
 
LT
 		 Lithuania
 		 1 December 2004
 
LU
 		 Luxembourg
 		 7 October 1977
 
LV Latvia
 		 1 July 2005
 
MC
 		 Monaco
 		 1 December 1991
 
MK
 		 Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia  1 January 2009
 
MT  Malta
 		 1 March 2007
 
NL
 		 Netherlands
 		 7 October 1977
 
NO
 		 Norway
 		 1 January 2008
 
PL
 		 Poland
 		 1 March 2004
 
PT
 		 Portugal
 		 1 January 1992
 
RO
 		 Romania
 		 1 March 2003
 
RS
 		 Serbia
 		 1 October 2010
 
SE
 		 Sweden
 		 1 May 1978
 
SI
 		 Slovenia
 		 1 December 2002
 
SK
 		 Slovakia
 		 1 July 2002
 
SM
 		 San Marino
 		 1 July 2009
 
TR
 		 Turkey 
 		 1 November 2000
 

Extension states

States recognising European patents upon request

BA Bosnia and Herzegovina
ME Montenegro

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

EPO statistics                    
                       

Total European patent filings 2002-2011

                    
                       
Country of residence of applicant 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011
AD Andorra 5 4 3 6 3 4 8 3 12 3
AE United Arab Emirates 8 8 20 29 21 23 29 36 32 49
AG Antigua And Barbuda 0 1 1 2 1 0 0 5 1 1
AI Anguilla 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0
AL Albania 0 1 2 0 1 0 0 0 1 0
AM Armenia 5 2 2 3 7 4 7 5 5 6
AN Netherlands Antilles 46 47 36 54 44 30 17 8 17 4
AO Angola 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0
AR Argentina 22 37 30 38 43 52 35 26 30 31
AS American Samoa 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 1 0 0
AT Austria 1.151 1.240 1.327 1.459 1.564 1.784 1.797 1.940 2.218 2.351
AU Australia 1.810 1.745 1.912 2.105 2.106 2.159 2.066 1.824 2.002 1.873
AZ Azerbaijan 1 6 6 5 13 7 4 8 2 4
BA Bosnia And Herzegovina 5 7 3 9 8 13 9 11 13 6
BB Barbados 130 207 292 309 334 423 289 111 146 146
BD Bangladesh 0 2 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 0
BE Belgium 1.583 1.674 1.849 2.214 2.209 2.316 2.283 1.970 2.347 2.481
BF Burkina Faso 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0
BG Bulgaria 32 53 29 25 26 33 32 32 35 30
BH Bahrain 1 2 0 0 0 0 3 1 2 1
BI Burundi 0 0 1 2 2 1 0 1 0 3
BJ Benin 1 0 0 0 1 0 1 0 0 0
BM Bermuda 4 2 6 7 12 12 6 9 50 28
BN Brunei Darussalam 1 0 1 9 1 0 0 1 6 3
BO Bolivia, Plurinational State Of 0 0 2 0 0 1 0 0 0 0
BR Brazil 216 244 294 309 370 441 530 539 522 605
BS Bahamas 25 27 27 37 24 42 39 26 26 13
BW Botswana 1 1 0 0 0 0 1 0 1 0
BY Belarus 11 16 26 22 21 15 14 20 17 14
BZ Belize 2 3 10 5 1 3 5 3 2 5
CA Canada 2.613 2.715 2.698 2.966 3.323 3.670 3.651 3.374 4.171 4.065
CD Congo, The Democratic Republic Of The 0 0 0 1 0 0 2 0 0 1
CG Congo 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 1
CH Switzerland 5.159 5.326 5.609 6.240 6.892 7.160 7.072 6.882 7.861 7.786
CI Côte D'Ivoire 1 1 0 1 0 0 0 0 1 2
CK Cook Islands 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
CL Chile 12 18 12 16 20 23 33 59 95 120
CM Cameroon 0 2 2 2 1 1 1 9 2 3
CN China 1.137 1.455 1.881 2.687 4.213 5.835 6.490 8.270 12.750 16.946
CO Colombia 39 27 22 24 28 44 37 64 47 60
CR Costa Rica 4 7 7 4 6 4 8 4 3 3
CU Cuba 11 20 19 12 25 22 13 10 10 14
CY Cyprus 30 36 50 48 79 77 53 54 65 55
CZ Czech Republic 87 116 143 156 138 176 212 234 213 239
DE Germany 26.507 27.211 28.227 29.152 30.670 32.128 33.405 30.486 33.146 33.181
DK Denmark 1.173 1.295 1.375 1.567 1.627 1.759 2.080 2.044 2.156 2.236
DM Dominica 0 0 1 0 0 0 1 1 0 2
DO Dominican Republic 0 1 0 0 1 2 5 1 3 6
DZ Algeria 4 5 7 4 3 14 10 8 4 5
EC Ecuador 2 5 10 1 7 2 4 4 33 28
EE Estonia 11 8 12 13 18 33 37 47 58 48
EG Egypt 4 22 56 52 42 42 45 35 50 36
ES Spain 1.052 1.144 1.253 1.672 1.815 1.997 2.063 2.269 2.559 2.459
ET Ethiopia 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0
FI Finland 2.249 1.967 2.116 2.289 2.272 2.693 2.745 2.433 2.601 2.495
FJ Fiji 1 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0
FR France 9.044 9.174 9.654 10.129 10.460 10.800 11.503 11.605 11.718 12.107
GA Gabon 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 2 2 3
GB United Kingdom 6.887 6.631 6.463 6.594 6.727 7.256 7.178 6.565 7.137 6.464
GD Grenada 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0
GE Georgia 9 3 2 4 9 8 8 4 6 6
GH Ghana 0 0 0 0 1 0 3 0 0 2
GI Gibraltar 2 4 7 3 5 5 2 0 1 0
GL Greenland 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0
GN Guinea 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0
GP Guadeloupe 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
GQ Equatorial Guinea 0 0 0 1 1 0 0 0 0 0
GR Greece 100 97 117 86 128 135 148 158 130 140
GT Guatemala 0 0 0 1 0 1 14 2 2 0
HK Hong Kong 14 20 20 36 38 58 55 41 42 26
HN Honduras 0 0 0 1 0 0 3 1 0 0
HR Croatia 73 73 77 75 78 85 60 40 52 56
HU Hungary 194 122 150 169 156 187 199 173 191 168
ID Indonesia 18 2 6 10 10 10 10 7 19 13
IE Ireland 438 434 435 480 588 599 712 743 743 686
IL Israel 1.297 1.225 1.335 1.607 1.764 1.902 2.060 1.753 1.814 1.701
IN India 572 788 762 741 887 965 1.125 1.000 1.378 1.530
IQ Iraq 0 0 0 0 0 2 0 0 2 0
IR Iran, Islamic Republic Of 2 2 6 9 8 16 7 12 11 10
IS Iceland 40 59 46 45 59 54 68 61 70 54
IT Italy 4.400 4.739 4.877 5.129 5.371 5.628 5.437 4.806 4.946 4.879
JM Jamaica 0 3 0 0 2 1 0 3 0 3
JO Jordan 2 3 4 12 31 37 8 3 2 3
JP Japan 25.859 28.534 32.267 36.469 37.930 38.643 39.676 38.268 41.869 47.404
KE Kenya 1 2 7 7 5 3 1 5 4 9
KG Kyrgyzstan 0 2 1 1 0 2 0 1 1 1
KN Saint Kitts And Nevis 0 0 0 1 1 3 1 2 2 1
KP Korea, Democratic People'S Republic Of 0 3 3 3 3 2 7 1 7 7
KR Korea, Republic Of 3.563 4.412 5.723 7.679 9.325 10.327 10.252 10.217 12.352 13.254
KW Kuwait 1 1 3 4 3 4 3 2 0 5
KY Cayman Islands 22 31 10 33 17 25 27 28 12 13
KZ Kazakhstan 16 7 7 8 17 16 4 21 23 19
LA Lao People'S Democratic Republic 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 7 5
LB Lebanon 4 8 2 0 6 2 2 2 9 3
LC Saint Lucia 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
LI Liechtenstein 172 175 159 192 195 246 545 239 210 264
LK Sri Lanka 3 2 2 0 3 8 10 16 10 13
LR Liberia 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 1
LT Lithuania 11 4 11 9 10 17 27 29 15 32
LU Luxembourg 204 209 247 242 266 334 407 393 496 383
LV Latvia 11 13 13 21 22 34 54 61 48 35
LY Libyan Arab Jamahiriya 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 4 1 0
MA Morocco 10 7 7 9 10 20 17 24 21 18
MC Monaco 19 29 28 20 27 14 28 20 19 30
MD Moldova, Republic Of 1 2 3 5 7 4 6 2 1 2
ME Montenegro 0 0 0 0 2 0 0 0 0 2
MG Madagascar 0 0 1 1 0 0 1 0 0 2
MH Marshall Islands 0 0 3 0 3 1 1 0 1 0
MK Macedonia, The Former Yugoslav Republic Of 6 2 4 2 2 5 2 2 2 0
ML Mali 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
MM Myanmar 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0
MN Mongolia 0 0 0 0 6 0 3 2 0 1
MO Macao 2 0 0 0 0 1 2 1 2 0
MT Malta 17 14 15 27 31 35 44 72 39 29
MU Mauritius 6 6 13 3 12 15 6 4 3 5
MX Mexico 135 134 126 146 173 189 213 196 206 234
MY Malaysia 28 48 69 52 77 122 217 235 367 273
NA Namibia 1 0 2 1 1 2 0 4 29 18
NC New Caledonia 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0
NE Niger 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0
NG Nigeria 1 0 1 2 1 1 1 1 2 5
NI Nicaragua 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 1
NL Netherlands 7.737 8.193 8.089 8.668 8.393 8.232 8.328 7.934 7.122 6.178
NO Norway 600 580 536 644 695 662 760 784 858 810
NZ New Zealand 319 320 359 365 377 421 378 311 337 348
OM Oman 0 0 0 2 0 0 0 2 4 0
PA Panama 10 16 17 19 16 16 9 10 6 10
PE Peru 1 3 1 0 2 1 2 10 7 6
PG Papua New Guinea 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0
PH Philippines 20 21 11 27 24 18 14 21 14 21
PK Pakistan 0 2 0 0 3 4 1 1 1 3
PL Poland 122 166 163 143 175 168 251 282 343 404
PR Puerto Rico 0 0 0 1 0 1 0 1 5 2
PT Portugal 50 63 77 82 113 125 129 207 138 128
PY Paraguay 0 0 1 0 0 0 1 0 0 1
QA Qatar 0 0 1 2 1 0 0 1 8 0
RE Réunion 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0
RO Romania 29 18 20 18 33 36 21 34 34 37
RS Serbia 30 36 29 36 32 24 38 28 20 19
RU Russian Federation 546 577 527 656 699 701 776 742 836 999
SA Saudi Arabia 16 34 43 61 68 66 92 109 106 224
SC Seychelles 0 3 12 6 13 8 17 9 16 7
SD Sudan 1 2 4 6 2 4 3 0 0 2
SE Sweden 3.492 3.188 3.476 3.593 3.995 4.381 4.934 4.194 4.300 4.587
SG Singapore 446 376 537 500 558 574 689 720 761 757
SH Saint Helena 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0
SI Slovenia 53 84 97 129 130 147 181 198 190 176
SK Slovakia 28 32 31 39 39 44 53 41 52 87
SL Sierra Leone 0 1 0 0 2 0 0 0 2 1
SM San Marino 10 10 4 7 8 20 10 13 9 7
SN Senegal 0 0 3 1 3 1 0 0 0 2
SV El Salvador 0 0 0 1 0 0 3 3 0 1
SY Syrian Arab Republic 1 0 5 5 7 2 5 9 12 5
SZ Swaziland 1 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 1 2
TD Chad 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0
TG Togo 2 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
TH Thailand 12 14 14 23 20 13 27 30 76 70
TM Turkmenistan 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0
TN Tunisia 6 6 7 10 3 9 6 6 10 9
TR Turkey 97 125 134 198 336 416 466 464 615 714
TT Trinidad And Tobago 1 2 1 1 3 3 2 2 1 0
TW Taiwan, Province Of China 418 478 552 646 750 740 1.026 975 1.180 1.178
TZ Tanzania, United Republic Of 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0
UA Ukraine 76 58 94 61 77 93 99 88 111 141
UG Uganda 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2
US United States 51.012 51.517 53.482 57.273 60.966 63.331 61.184 53.892 60.762 59.688
UY Uruguay 9 11 10 8 5 5 11 9 7 6
UZ Uzbekistan 2 0 0 2 2 0 3 0 4 1
VC Saint Vincent And The Grenadines 0 3 1 0 0 4 5 4 8 4
VE Venezuela, Bolivarian Republic Of 7 1 3 5 4 6 5 2 7 3
VG Virgin Islands, British 17 39 35 32 48 124 122 65 41 38
VI Virgin Islands, U.S. 0 1 0 0 0 1 3 1 1 0
VN Viet Nam 2 7 2 0 11 6 6 5 9 18
VU Vanuatu 0 3 1 2 2 0 1 1 0 0
WS Samoa 0 0 1 3 2 3 7 9 6 3
YE Yemen 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 3 1
ZA South Africa 396 360 419 368 425 417 404 383 307 317
ZM Zambia 1 0 1 0 0 0 0 1 1 0
ZW Zimbabwe 2 2 3 1 0 0 0 3 0 3
Not classified 228 440 288 268 268 873 596 45 25 49
Total   164.144 170.530 181.162 197.539 210.782 222.572 225.975 211.354 235.700 244.437

 

 
European patent applications filed in 2011                        
                           
Main applicants in main technology fileds                          
                           
Leading fields of technology in 2011                          
  Applications   Applicants   # aplications / applicant                
Medical technology 10.534   3643   2,89                
Electrical machinery, apparatus, energy 8.963   2290   3,91                
Computer technology 8.197   1955   4,19                
Digital communication 7.843   812   9,66                
Organic fine chemistry 6.887   1526   4,51                
Measurement 6.453   2249   2,87                
Transport 6.231   1821   3,42                
Biotechnology 5.865   2119   2,77                
Pharmaceuticals 5.759   2442   2,36                
Telecommunications 4.800   890   5,39                
Sub-total 71.532                        
All fields 142.810   31200   4,58                
                           
                             
                           
Leaders per field                          
                           
Rank Medical technology Applications   Electrical machinery, apparatus, energy Applications Computer technology Applications Digital communication Applications Organic fine chemistry Applications
1 PHILIPS 403   SIEMENS 495   MICROSOFT 306   QUALCOMM 814   BASF 335
2 COVIDIEN 350   ABB 325   I.B.M. 281   ERICSSON 754   BAYER 259
3 JOHNSON & JOHNSON 315   PHILIPS 303   SAMSUNG 243   HUAWEI 473   HOFFMANN-LA ROCHE 188
4 SANOFI 280   PANASONIC 225   SONY 233   ALCATEL LUCENT 381   SANOFI 147
5 MEDTRONIC 246   SAMSUNG 218   PHILIPS 192   ZTE CORPORATION 303   BOEHRINGER INGELHEIM 142
6 BOSTON SCIENTIFIC 222   ROBERT BOSCH 189   QUALCOMM 163   RESEARCH IN MOTION 286   JOHNSON & JOHNSON 129
7 OLYMPUS 146   GENERAL ELECTRIC 178   FUJITSU 158   NTT CORPORATION 232   UNILEVER 125
8 COOK 118   LG GROUP 161   RESEARCH IN MOTION 142   NEC 207   NOVARTIS 120
9 FUJIFILM 105   TYCO CONNECTIVITY 144   APPLE 139   SAMSUNG 200   DSM 102
10 UNICHARM CORPORATION 103   SUMITOMO 116   NOKIA 139   NOKIA SIEMENS 182   MERCK KGAA 102
11 BECTON, DICKINSON 97   MITSUBISHI 115   SIEMENS 122   LG GROUP 160   SYNGENTA 100
12 PROCTER & GAMBLE 95   HITACHI 111   THOMSON 115   NOKIA 148   MERCK & CO 99
13 BIOTRONIK 85   TOYOTA 88   NEC 106   PANASONIC 145   HENKEL 88
14 ABBOTT 82   EATON CORPORATION 84   LG GROUP 102   HTC 131   PROCTER & GAMBLE 88
15 SYNTHES 74   SB LIMOTIVE 82   HEWLETT-PACKARD 98   FUJITSU 114   DOW CHEMICAL 69
16 B. BRAUN 60   SCHNEIDER ELECTRIC 72   SONY ERICSSON 95   INTERDIGITAL 91   ABBOTT 68
17 MILUX HOLDING 58   SANYO 68   GOOGLE 94   THOMSON 84   ASTRAZENECA 63
18 BAXTER INTERNATIONAL 57   SHARP 65   SANDISK 91   FRANCE TELECOM 81   PFIZER 60
19 FRESENIUS MEDICAL CARE 57   VALEO 61   CANON 87   SIEMENS 81   GLAXO 57
20 ST. JUDE MEDICAL 57   SONY 52   PANASONIC 78   PHILIPS 79   BRISTOL-MYERS SQUIBB 52
21 HOFFMANN-LA ROCHE 55   NXP 50   HITACHI 73   MICROSOFT 72   L'ORÉAL 52
22 KIMBERLY-CLARK 54   TOSHIBA 50   FRAUNHOFER-GESELLSCHAFT 65   SONY 70   SUMITOMO 52
23 CANON 53   TRIDONIC 50   HONEYWELL 61   SHARP 67   EVONIK 49
24 KCI LICENSING 53   UNITED TECHNOLOGIES 49   ALCATEL LUCENT 60   VODAFONE 66   EXXON MOBIL 48
25 3M COMPANY 52   ALSTOM 48   SAP 58   DEUTSCHE TELEKOM 61   SOLVAY 48
                             
Rank Measurement Applications   Transport Applications Biotechnology Applications Pharmaceuticals Applications Telecommunications Applications
1 PHILIPS 167   EADS 332   BASF 150   NOVARTIS 143   SAMSUNG 232
2 ROBERT BOSCH 136   ROBERT BOSCH 220   HOFFMANN-LA ROCHE 145   SANOFI 129   LG GROUP 209
3 GENERAL ELECTRIC 128   HONDA 190   NOVOZYMES 131   BOEHRINGER INGELHEIM 103   QUALCOMM 209
4 SIEMENS 121   TOYOTA 172   DU PONT DE NEMOURS 120   BAYER 78   ERICSSON 188
5 THALES 82   SIEMENS 103   DSM 84   HOFFMANN-LA ROCHE 68   ALCATEL LUCENT 183
6 HONEYWELL 70   CONTINENTAL 92   GLAXO 55   MERCK & CO 61   RESEARCH IN MOTION 148
7 EADS 67   VOLVO 80   INSERM 55   NESTLE 54   HUAWEI 143
8 ENDRESS & HAUSER 65   AUDI 78   NOVARTIS 55   GLAXO 51   SONY 121
9 HITACHI 62   MICHELIN 76   BAYER 54   ALLERGAN 50   PANASONIC 103
10 SCHLUMBERGER 60   BRIDGESTONE 73   NOVO NORDISK 49   JOHNSON & JOHNSON 50   THOMSON 96
11 COMMISSARIAT À L'ÉNERGIE ATOMIQUE 58   AUTOLIV 71   GANYMED PHARMACEUTICALS 47   PFIZER 36   NEC 91
12 GECO TECHNOLOGY 54   VALEO 69   JOHNSON & JOHNSON 47   INSERM 34   SONY ERICSSON 91
13 HOFFMANN-LA ROCHE 53   RENAULT 68   SANOFI 42   RATIOPHARM 33   FUJITSU 75
14 QUALCOMM 51   AISIN SEIKI 58   ABBOTT 41   SANOVEL ILAC 32   NTT CORPORATION 75
15 PANASONIC 48   MITSUBISHI 58   QIAGEN 41   ABBOTT 28   ZTE CORPORATION 72
16 NXP 46   ZF FRIEDRICHSHAFEN 57   ONCOTHERAPY SCIENCE 36   NOVO NORDISK 28   APPLE 67
17 RAYTHEON 44   GOODYEAR 55   UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA 34   NEKTAR THERAPEUTICS 26   NOKIA 64
18 SYSMEX 44   JTEKT 53   CNRS 33   3M COMPANY 24   CANON 58
19 ABB 42   PEUGEOT 53   MAX-PLANCK-GESELLSCHAFT 31   INTERVET INTERNATIONAL 24   NOKIA SIEMENS 55
20 TOMTOM 41   SUMITOMO 53   PFIZER 28   MERCK KGAA 24   SHARP 50
21 DR. JOHANNES HEIDENHAIN 40   JOHSON CONTROLS 51   MONSANTO 26   UNIVERSITÄT ZÜRICH 24   PHILIPS 47
22 MITUTOYO 40   SAFRAN 51   MERCK & CO 24   ASTRAZENECA 23   MITSUBISHI 44
23 HEXAGON 37   NISSAN 50   EVONIK 23   MERZ PHARMA 22   RAYTHEON 39
24 ETA SA MANUFACTURE HORLOGÈRE SUISSE 36   UNITED TECHNOLOGIES 47   BIOMÉRIEUX 22   BASF 21   TYCO CONNECTIVITY 38
25 CANON 35   BMW 43   MERCK KGAA 21   UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA 21   NXP 37