13/03/2019 (Agence Europe) – The number of patent applications filed with the European Patent Office (EPO) increased by 4.6% in 2018, reaching a “record” number of 174,317 applications, according to the Office. In addition, the EPO granted 127,625 European patents in the same year, an increase of 21% compared to the previous year. The United States remains the leading country in terms of the number of patent applications filed (25%), followed by Germany (15%), Japan (13%), France (6%) and China (5%). The EPO notes that European companies accounted for 40% of the increase in applications last year, more than China, Japan and South Korea combined. To view the report: https://bit.ly/2Y0YTDA (PH)