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Patent applications to the European Patent Office (09.40)

Patent applications to the European Patent Office Number
Catalonia Spain European Union-27
2021 653 1,954 (p) Provisional value 67,713 (p) Provisional value
2020 559 1,794 65,925
2019 645 1,885 66,510
Source Catalonia: Idescat, based on data of the European Patent Office. Source Spain and European Union: Eurostat.
(p) Provisional value.

Last update: June 10, 2022.

Methodological note

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.