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The European Patent Office (EPO) has released its Patent Index 2024, highlighting remarkable performances from both Belgium and France. Belgium recorded a record-breaking year in patent applications, and France matched its 2022 results.
In total, 199,264 patent applications were filed with the EPO by 39 member states. Of these, 2,615 originated from Belgium, an impressive figure given the country’s size, and France, on its part, filed 10,980 applications which is just over four times more than Belgium.
Source : Statistics and Trends Centre | epo
Belgium ranked 12th among countries with the highest number of European patent applications in 2024, ahead of Denmark and Finland. When adjusted for population, Belgium climbs to 9th place in terms of number of applications per million inhabitants. These strong positions reflect the country’s intense innovation activity.
France achieved an excellent result as well, securing 7th place in both absolute and relative rankings, surpassing countries like Switzerland and the United Kingdom. This is a clear indicator of the strength of its innovation ecosystem.
« Global demand for European patents remains high, confirming the importance of European markets for a wide range of inventions. » – Patent Index 2024
When analyzing the technological profile of Belgian applications, we see that 50% of patents are concentrated in eight main fields: biotechnology, pharmaceuticals industry, metallurgy, other specialized machinery, medical technology, civil engineering, transportation, and organic chemistry.
For France, several common fields stand out (biotechnology, pharmaceuticals industry, medical technology, transportation, and organic chemistry), but additional areas complete the top 50% of applications including : computing, electrical machinery, measurement and audiovisual technology.
We can observe a wide variety in the profile of applicants: individual inventors, small, medium and large companies, as well as universities and public research institutions.
In fact, among Belgium’s top 10 applicants, we find for instance the firms Syensqo SA and Umicore NV, the research and innovation centre IMEC, but also the universities of Ghent and Antwerp, with 140, 136, 203, 55, and 41 patent applications respectively.
In France, the top 10 includes companies like Valeo SE and Saint-Gobain SA, along with research centres such as CEA et INSERM for example. Respectively, they filed 541, 443, 520 and 270 patent applications.
Discover figures from other countries: 👉 Click here
This article clearly illustrates the importance of innovation in today’s economy. It highlights how every organization must stay attuned to its environment, especially to detect and anticipate technological shifts that could impact its activities.
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