Switzerland posts strong patent growth in 2022

The EPO reported a marked increase for patent applications for clean energy technologies in 2022. Copyright 2023 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.

Swiss companies and inventors filed 9,008 patent applications at the European Patent Office (EPO) in 2022, an increase of 5.9% compared to 2021.

Switzerland is ranked seventh among the top ten countries with the most patent applications last year.

In terms of patent applications per capita, Switzerland remains the leading country (1,031 per million inhabitants), followed by Nordic states, according to the EPO’s Patent Index 2022 releasedExternal link on Tuesday.

Overall, the EPO received 193,460 patent applications last year, an increase of 2.5% on the previous year and a new record. This follows an increase of 4.7% in 2021 and a small dip (-0.6%) in 2020.

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“The rising number of patent applications – an early indicator of companies’ investments in research and development – underlines that innovation remained robust last year despite economic uncertainties around the globe,” the EPO said in a statement.

Clean energy

There was a marked increase for patent applications for clean energy technologies and others for transferring and storing energy. Battery technologies, for example, recorded a 48% increase in applications compared to the previous year.

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The leading countries for applications to the EPO in 2022 were the United States (48,088), Germany (24,684), Japan (21,576), China (19,041) and France (10,900).

The Chinese mobile phone manufacturer Huawei led the ranking of companies with the most patents (4,500). Most applications were from large firms but around 20% came from small or medium-sized companies with up to 250 employees. Some 7% were from universities and public research institutes.