As in the previous year, Austria took 14th place in the ranking of the 40 countries with the most patent applications at the European Patent Office (EPO) in 2023. In terms of registrations per million inhabitants, Austria ranks seventh, one place behind Germany.
Switzerland, Sweden and Denmark lead this ranking. In total, the EPO recorded a total of 199,275 applications last year – an increase of 2.9 percent compared to 2022. 2,355 came from Austria; the year before that there were slightly more, 2,381 applications.
The top five countries of origin for patent applications at the EPO in 2023 were the United States, Germany, Japan, China and the Republic of Korea. The latter was represented in the top five for the first time (the driver is the technology group Samsung), and patent applications from China have more than doubled since 2018.
Around 43 percent of the total applications came from companies and inventors from the 39 member states of the EPO, which, in addition to the EU states, also include countries such as Norway, Switzerland and Turkey. Patents protect new technical inventions, usually for 20 years. On average, the process from registration to patent grant would take four and a half years, according to the EPO. Once the patent has been granted, it must be validated in the relevant states (theoretically all 39). There may be costs for translations or patent attorneys.
The process is faster with the unitary patent, which was introduced on June 1, 2023: If it is applied for after the patent has been granted, the invention is protected in 17 EU states and individual validations are no longer required. Around a third of the Austrian patent holders who received their patent in 2023 – a total of 1,504 – took advantage of this opportunity.
Top 10: Fronius and Voestalpine
Among Austrian companies, the OMV subsidiary Borealis led the ranking in 2023 with 183 registrations, ahead of Tridonic and Julius Blum. This follows in fourth place Welding technology and solar technology manufacturer Fronius from Pettenbach (46 registrations), in sixth place is the Linz-based steel and technology group Voestalpine with 45 registrations.
In 2023, women were only named as inventors in 17 percent of patent applications from Austria. According to the EPO, this is the lowest proportion among the twelve European patent applicant countries with more than 2,000 applications and is significantly below the average of the 39 EPO member states (27 percent).
As far as the federal states are concerned, Vienna is in the lead with 603 patent applications, which corresponds to 25.6 percent of all applications. Upper Austria follows in second place with 497 registrations, making up 22.6 percent. The technology sector Electrical Machines, Devices, Energy ranks first among Austrian patent applications at the EPO.
In 2023, almost one in four patent applications from Europe were filed with the EPO by a small or medium-sized company or individual. 69 percent come from large companies, eight percent come from universities and public research institutions.
Author
Verena Mitterlechner
Verena Mitterlechner
