The EPO’s Patent Index Report 2022 reveals that UK-based innovators filed 5,697 European patent applications last year, up 1.9% on the previous year. This increase in filings from the UK contributed to another record-breaking year for the EPO, in which it attracted its highest ever volume of patent applications – 193,460.
Karl Barnfather, partner and patent attorney at European intellectual property firm, Withers & Rogers, said: “This is good news for the UK economy and demonstrates that following the deceleration in patent-filing activity seen during the pandemic, it’s full steam ahead for our domestic innovators once again.
“While we expected to see an increase in European patent filings originating in the UK this time, the 1.9% increase is slightly stronger than expected bearing in mind the challenging conditions that many businesses are facing with high inflation and rising interest rates, which have added to cost of borrowing.
“With so much innovation activity happening domestically in diverse areas like composite materials, digital technologies, clean energy, MedTech and drug development, the outlook for Britain as a global R&D hub remains positive. The UK Government’s plan to turn the UK into the next Silicon Valley is also very promising.
"However, more concrete incentives and support are needed for research programmes at every stage, from the earliest, seed-funded R&D activity, which typically spins out of UK universities.”
The increase in European patent filing activity originating in the UK is mirrored in some European countries, such as France (+1.9%), Switzerland (+5.9%) and the Netherlands (+3.5%), but it is by no means evident everywhere.
For example, the volume of European patents filed at the EPO by innovators based in Germany fell by 4.7% in 2022, largely due to declines in areas such as transport (including automotive), electrical machinery/apparatus/energy and organic fine chemistry. Innovators based in Italy also filed 1.1% fewer European patent applications last year.
Barnfather added: “When we consider the volume of European patent applications that originated in the UK on a per capita basis, it is clear that there is considerable room for improvement. With a population of around 67 million in the UK, domestic innovators are only filing 84 European patent applications per million inhabitants, which is far fewer than most other developed nations in Europe and beyond. Switzerland, at number one spot here, achieves over 1000 patent filings at the EPO per million population whereas the UK languishes in 17th position.
“While the UK has a strong track record in sponsoring innovation activity and leading research programmes, many SMEs lack the resources and funding to prioritise intellectual property advice. Unlike in the US (still the top filer at the EPO), where the value of entrepreneurial support and IP protection are widely understood, there are cultural blocks in some fields of tech that can lead to a lack of commercial rights ownership. Without greater prioritisation of IP, the full economic potential of UK-based research activity could be lost.”
Unilever was the top UK filer, filing 486 patent applications at the EPO in 2022. British American Tobacco was in second place, filing 287 patent applications from the UK. Other top UK filers included Linde (201 filings), Rolls-Royce (197 filings), BAE Systems (188 filings), British Telecommunications (125 filings) and Glaxo Smith Kline (98 filings).
From a global perspective the growth in patent filings made to the EPO in 2022 is further indication of post-pandemic recovery. Much of the growth was fuelled by filings from China (+15.1%), which have more than doubled in the past five years, as well as the US (+2.9%) and the Republic of Korea (+10%).
Barnfather added: “China continues to go from strength to strength as an innovation leader for the rest of the world to follow and the Government’s focus on IP is no accident. It has helped the country to reinvent itself as a globally respected R&D hub that can industrialise its ideas quickly.”
See the UK-specific infographic here.
