The indicator measures the number of requests for patent protection of an invention filed with the European Patent Office (EPO) regardless of whether they are granted or not. 

DATA DOWNLOAD
SiStat Database

INDICATOR DESCRIPTION
The indicator measures the number of requests for patent protection of an invention filed with the European Patent Office (EPO) regardless of whether they are granted or not. The number of applications include direct European applications filed in the reference year (Direct) and international (PCT) applications for which the applicant(s) opted to protect their invention in Europe by selecting the EPO during the reporting period (PCT regional). Applications are allocated according to the country of residence of the applicant listed on the application form. In cases where several applicants are mentioned on the application form, the country of residence of the first applicant listed applies (first-named applicant principle). The country of residence of the (first) applicant is not necessarily the same as the county of residence of the inventor(s). The data show the total number of applications per country and per million inhabitants.

UNIT
Number, number per million capita

DATA SOURCE
European Patent Office (EPO), published by Eurostat
Publishing frequency: no information
Indicative date of publication: no information
Link to more data: Eurostat database

The data enable the display of distributions by: /

Link to methodological explanations: Eurostat metadata

LAST UPDATE OF THE METADATA
16 December 2025