Annual Report 2016

Applicants

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Key figures 2016


Infographic 2016


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Top 25

Philips filed the most patent applications at the EPO in 2016, the second year in a row. Huawei moved into second place, followed by Samsung, LG and United Technologies. The top 10 was made up of four companies from Europe, three from the US, two from South Korea and one from China. A ranking of companies based on granted patents is also available in our statistics section.

  • EPC
  • US
  • JP
  • CN
  • KR
  • 1.PHILIPS
    2 568
  • 2.HUAWEI
    2 390
  • 3.SAMSUNG
    2 316
  • 4.LG
    2 313
  • 5.UNITED TECHNOLOGIES
    2 067
  • 6.SIEMENS
    1 871
  • 7.QUALCOMM
    1 704
  • 8.GENERAL ELECTRIC
    1 628
  • 9.BASF
    1 410
  • 10.ROBERT BOSCH
    1 327
  • 11.INTEL
    1 268
  • 12.ERICSSON
    1 183
  • 13.SONY
    1 118
  • 14.NOKIA
    1 059
  • 15.MICROSOFT
    984
  • 16.BAYER
    881
  • 17.TOYOTA MOTOR
    870
  • 18.CANON
    756
  • 19.PROCTER & GAMBLE
    755
  • 20.PANASONIC
    719
  • 21.JOHNSON & JOHNSON
    716
  • 22.ZTE
    680
  • 23.AIRBUS
    679
  • 24.HOFFMANN-LA ROCHE
    664
  • 25.DOW CHEMICAL
    647
  • EPC
  • US
  • JP
  • CN
  • KR
Analysis based on European patent applications filed with the EPO in 2016 (Direct first and subsequent European applications and International (PCT) applications entering the European phase in 2016).
Statistics are based on the first-named applicant.

Top 50

  • 1.PHILIPS
    2 568
  • 2.HUAWEI
    2 390
  • 3.SAMSUNG
    2 316
  • 4.LG
    2 313
  • 5.UNITED TECHNOLOGIES
    2 067
  • 6.SIEMENS
    1 871
  • 7.QUALCOMM
    1 704
  • 8.GENERAL ELECTRIC
    1 628
  • 9.BASF
    1 410
  • 10.ROBERT BOSCH
    1 327
  • 11.INTEL
    1 268
  • 12.ERICSSON
    1 183
  • 13.SONY
    1 118
  • 14.NOKIA
    1 059
  • 15.MICROSOFT
    984
  • 16.BAYER
    881
  • 17.TOYOTA MOTOR
    870
  • 18.CANON
    756
  • 19.PROCTER & GAMBLE
    755
  • 20.PANASONIC
    719
  • 21.JOHNSON & JOHNSON
    716
  • 22.ZTE
    680
  • 23.AIRBUS
    679
  • 24.HOFFMANN-LA ROCHE
    664
  • 25.DOW CHEMICAL
    647
  • 26.GOOGLE
    630
  • 26.HITACHI
    630
  • 28.HONEYWELL
    613
  • 29.VALEO
    612
  • 30.3M
    606
  • 31.CEA 1)
    592
  • 32.BOEING
    581
  • 33.MEDTRONIC
    578
  • 34.ABB
    553
  • 35.XIAOMI
    514
  • 36.CONTINENTAL
    513
  • 37.TECHNICOLOR
    507
  • 38.MITSUBISHI ELECTRIC
    494
  • 39.SABIC 2)
    466
  • 40.NESTLE
    442
  • 41.UNILEVER
    441
  • 42.OLYMPUS
    437
  • 43.RICOH
    436
  • 44.MERCK KGAA
    430
  • 45.FRAUNHOFER 3)
    425
  • 46.SAFRAN
    423
  • 47.NXP SEMICONDUCTORS
    408
  • 48.NEC
    388
  • 49.TOSHIBA
    381
  • 50.SANOFI
    375
Analysis based on European patent applications filed with the EPO in 2016 (Direct first and subsequent European applications and International (PCT) applications entering the European phase in 2016).
Statistics are based on the first-named applicant.

1) Commissariat à l'énergie atomique et aux énergies alternatives
2) Saudi Basic Industries Corporation
3) Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft zur Förderung der angewandten Forschung e.V.

Shares in applications 1

A breakdown by category of applicants requesting services from the EPO shows that 66% of them were large companies, 28% were SMEs and individual inventors, and 6% were universities and public research institutes. This shows that a significant proportion of applicants at the EPO are smaller entities.

Shares in applications
2016 2015
Large enterprises 66% 69%
SMEs², individual inventors 28% 26%
Universities and public research 6% 5%
Evaluation based on the analysis of a representative sample of patent applications treated by the EPO in 2016.
This analysis bases on the definition of SMEs of the European Commission: http://ec.europa.eu/growth/smes/

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