IP Spring: European Trials, Tribulations And Statistics

• Published date: 05 April 2024
• Subject Matter: Intellectual Property, Technology, Patent, Trademark, New Technology
• Law Firm: Dennemeyer S.A.
• Author: Dennemeyer &nbsp

The air is buzzing with innovation and legal drama. For a start, the European Patent Office's latest report shows a record-breaking number of patent filings, highlighting Europe's push toward sustainable tech. Meanwhile, Lidl and Tesco have ended a trademark tussle and over in France, Google has been slapped with a '250 million fine for not playing fair with copyrighted content.

A hive of patenting activity

It has been over nine months since the Unitary Patent launched on June 1, 2023. Though it may yet be too early to decide whether the single grant for 17 European Union member states has delivered on its promise of a more streamlined filing and litigation system, initial figures are encouraging. The latest Patent Index from the European Patent Office (EPO) paints a picture of a continent bustling with IP activity and ripe with prospects.

Total patent applications have continued their strong performance in recent years, rising 2.9% from 193,627 in 2022 to 199,275 in 2023. Much of this growth can be attributed to a surge in filings originating from Asia, demonstrating both that region's technological innovation and the attractiveness of Europe as a market destination and protection venue. Specifically, applications from China increased by 8.8% and those from the Republic of Korea jumped a massive 21%. For comparison, filings from EPO states rose 1.8%, while those from the United States grew just 0.4% and Japanese applications fell 0.3%.

Inventiveness trends to one side, the rebounding in patents granted by the EPO is particularly striking. Between 2021 and 2022, this number fell dramatically from 108,799 to 81,754, only to recover almost fully during 2023 back to 104,609. Both the cause and remediation of this trough could be the introduction of the Unitary Patent and competent Unified Patent Court (UPC). In practical terms, the technical difficulties of late 2022 that delayed the beginning of procedures quickly gave way to an auspicious first showing.

The top five origin countries for European Patent filings in 2023 were the United States, Germany, Japan, China and the Republic of Korea. On a per-capita basis, Switzerland held on to its position as the most innovative country

Thus, the Unitary Patent has seen noteworthy uptake even though it only became available mid-way through 2023. With that caveat, unitary effect was requested for 17.5% of all patents granted by the Office last year, or 18,344 in total. Almost two thirds of these came from EPO...