Five-year overview

Five-year overview

	2013	2014	2015	2016	2017
European patent filings1
Direct European applications	60 650	60 046	61 770	64 741	68 081
PCT international patent applications	205 268	214 321	217 232	232 915	242 703
Total European patent filings	265 918	274 367	279 002	297 656	310 784

¹ European patent filings include direct European filings under the European Patent Convention (EPC) and international (PCT) filings.

European patent applications filed with the EPO²

Direct European applications	60 650	60 046	61 770	64 741	68 081
PCT applications entering the regional phase	87 377	92 657	98 234	94 575	97 509
Total European patent applications filed with the EPO	148 027	152 703	160 004	159 316	165 590

² European patent applications include direct European applications and international (PCT) applications that entered the European phase during the reporting period.

Searches completed³

European searches		96 217	102 088	128 547	133 544	137 348
Other searches		107 176	110 920	109 530	111 145	110 155
	For national offices	25 526	26 663	24 391	27 564	26 403
	International	81 650	84 257	85 139	83 581	83 752
Total searches		203 393	213 008	238 077	244 689	247 503

³ Searches completed by EPO examiners.

Examination and opposition

International preliminary examinations4	7 871	7 853	9 363	9 180	8 836
European examinations5	101 147	96 062	113 586	137 939	153 858
European patents granted6	66 712	64 613	68 419	95 940	105 635
Patents opposed	2 963	3 063	2 898	2 938	3 647
Decisions in opposition cases7	3 167	3 157	3 713	4 102	4 072

⁴ EPO acting as International Preliminary Examination Authority.

⁵ European examinations conducted under Article 94 of the European Patent Convention.

⁶ Published patents granted by the EPO.

⁷ Opposition decisions communicated by the EPO examiners. Oppositions must be filed at the EPO within nine months of the grant of the respective European patent. www.epo.org/applying/european/oppositions.

Staff⁸

Total staff	6 814	6 892	6 815	6 801	6 850
Examiners	4 112	4 221	4 227	4 310	4 378

⁸ Headcounts as of 31 Dec of the same year.

Source: EPO (for direct European filings); WIPO (for PCT filings¹).
Status: 22.1.2018; PCT filings for 2017 are estimates.

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Annual report of the Boards of Appeal:
Following a reform in 2016, the Boards of Appeal have now issued their own Annual report containing their own statistics for 2017.

• Access the Annual report of the Boards of Appeal of the European Patent Office 2017