The European Patent Office has published its latest report on the statistics results of European Patents applications in 2018, which shows, as reported by Europa Press, an upward trend in the registration of European Patents by Spanish applicants.
This increase in European Patent applications by Spanish applicants stands at 6.3%, being considerably higher than the average increase of the rest of the 38 member states of the European Patent Convention, which has been about 3.8%. In global figures, Spain has marked an own record of 1,776 European Patent applications in 2018.
This upward trend, which has been repeated for four years, is positive news for the growth of the national R & D model, which establishes the necessary basis for the country’s technological growth.
In any case, despite this positive trend, we must be aware of the long way to go, since Spain only represents the 1% of European Patent applications filed in 2018, very far from Germany, France, United Kingdom, Holland, Italy and Sweden, and still below Austria, Belgium and Denmark, which must reinforce the determination to continue in this direction and upward trend.
By Autonomous Communities, Catalonia continues to be the first applicant for European Patents in the Spanish territory with more than a third of the total number of applications, followed by the Community of Madrid with 21.1% and the Basque Country with 12.5%. By city, Barcelona leads the ranking with 520 applications ahead of Madrid with 374. It must be said that in both cases, Catalonia and Barcelona, the number of applications has fallen compared to the previous year.
As regards applicants, the holder with the highest number of applications in 2018 is the Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas (CSIC) with 61 applications, followed by Esteve Pharmaceuticals with 33 applications, Tecnalia Research & Innovation Foundation and the University of Barcelona with 17 applications, Repsol with 16, Telefónica with 14 and the Autonomous University of Barcelona and the Instituto de Ciencias Fotónicas with 13 applications each.
Finally, as an analysis of the most active technical fields in the application for European Patents, we have that medical technology, digital communication and information technology occupy the first positions of activity. The fastest growing trends in European Patent applications in Spain are pharmaceuticals and biotechnology.
