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EPO Filings Up 10% in 2010

By Peter Zura

In this short-but-sweet news release, the EPO has announced:

The EPO received 232,000 European patent filings in 2010, 10% up on the 2009 figure (211,000). 39% of these filings originated from the 38 member states of the European Patent Organisation, 26% from the US, 18% from Japan and 5% from each of South Korea and China.

In 2010, the EPO granted 58,100 patents, 11% more than in 2009 (52,400).

"These figures clearly indicate that demand for patent protection is on the rise again, after the economic downturn of the previous two years", says EPO President Benoît Battistelli.

The EPO expects a further increase for the current year.

Compared to the US,

EPO Filings = 232,000, up 10%
US Filings = not published yet

EPO Grants = 58,100, up 11%
US Grants = 291,614, up 31%

This trend follows the trends being reported by other patent offices, although the "mere" 11% uptick in patent grants appears to lag behind others, such as the USPTO and SIPO.  Of course, the EPO hasn't published the full report yet, so stay tuned . . .

Full post as published by Two-Seventy-One Patent Blog on January 26, 2011 (boomark / email).