Brussels, 17/01/2014 (Agence Europe) - Demand for patents is rising in the European Union. In 2013, the European Patent Office (EPO) recorded a 2.8% rise in patent applications on 2012. On Thursday 16 January, the head of EPO, Benoit Battistelli, said that there was undeniable rising demand for European patents and Europe is clearly one of the world's innovation hot spots.
A record 265,000 patent applications were lodged in 2013 (up 1.7% from 257,700 in 2012), with 66,700 successful. For the fourth year in a row, said Battistelli, EPO patent requests have been rising and the trend is expected to continue despite recent changes in the application process.
The highest number of patent applications in Europe comes from Germany, followed by France, Switzerland, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom and Sweden. (MD/transl.fl)