New EPO Study Explores How Public Research Drives Patenting and Innovation in Europe

The Observatory on Patents and Technology of the European Patent Office (EPO) has published a new study that builds on its 2024 analysis of university patenting, extending the scope to include public research organisations (PROs) and research hospitals across all 39 EPO member states.

The study reveals that European PROs filed nearly 63,000 European patent applications between 2001 and 2020. Annual applications rose from around 2,000 at the start of the period to over 3,500 by 2020. It also highlights a concentrated yet diverse innovation landscape: while certain organisations and countries are particularly active in using the European patent system, approaches to technology transfer and collaboration vary significantly across Europe.

The study found that many university inventions are still patented by third parties often by companies or partner institutions rather than by the universities themselves. Over the two decades examined, European research hospitals were associated with approximately 17,400 European patent applications, with activity concentrated in pharmaceuticals, biotechnology, medical technologies, and diagnostics.

The study also highlights the strong culture of collaboration across Europe’s research landscape: universities frequently co-operate with other universities, PROs, research hospitals, industry partners, and SMEs, resulting in a substantial number of jointly filed academic patent applications.

In addition, around 2,800 European start-ups linked to public research were identified, attracting a disproportionately high share of investment and driving progress in capital-intensive sectors such as health tech, energy, and hardware.

Read the full study: The role of European public research in patenting and innovation

Watch the event recording “Public research organisations and innovation in Europe”