In 2019, the number of patent applications originating from Switzerland filed with the European Patent Office (EPO) increased by 3.6% to reach a record high of 8,249 (2018 – 7,961). These figures can be found in the EPO’s Patent Index 2019, published today. The increase in applications from Switzerland last year was more than three times higher than the EU average of 0.9%.

In 2019, Switzerland also filed a record number of patent applications per capita. For the first time, there were almost 1,000 applications (988) per million inhabitants. This figure was 884 in 2017. The 2019 statistic places Switzerland well ahead of the other countries. Sweden took second place with 433 applications per million inhabitants. Germany had 334. The average number of applications is considered an indicator of a country’s innovative strength.

The total number of patent applications filed with the EPO in 2019 rose by 4% to over 181,000. The five biggest filing countries were the USA, Germany, Japan, France and China, followed by South Korea and Switzerland.

For further details on Swiss applications: Patent Index 2019