MILANO – Record for Italian innovation, despite Covid, in 2020. According to data from the European Patent Office (EPO), applications grew by 2.9% on an annual basis last year, doubling the growth rate ( + 1.5%) in 2019 and reaching a total of 4,600 requests.
A figure that is even more relevant if we consider that overall patent applications in Europe were stagnant, with a decrease of 0.7% with a total of just over 180 thousand. Italy is thus in tenth place for applications submitted, in a top ten that sees the United States on the podium (over 44,000 applications) followed by Germany (almost 26,000) and then Japan (22,000). However, the top of the class all show signs of slowing down (Europe as a whole fell by 1.3%). Instead, as in 32019, the strongest increases among the top ten countries came from Chinese (+ 9.9%) and South Korean (+ 9.2%) applicants. In contrast, U.S. patent applications, which account for a quarter of all EPO applications, fell by 4.1% in 2020.
Healthcare at the center of requests in the year of Covid
According to the aggregate data, the pharmaceutical (+ 10.2%) and the biotechnology (+ 6.3%) were the protagonists of the greatest increases in the filing of patents. Covid, with the health emergency on one side and the stop to travel on the other, seems to have also guided innovation: the Epo still does not have a timely survey on patents related to the coronavirus, but the medical technology (+ 2.6% with over 14 thousand questions) was the field that saw most inventions in 2020, replacing digital communication, which was the most active sector in 2019. In this sector there are diagnostics, laboratory equipment, respiratory devices, medical devices, hygiene items (masks, gloves) and disinfectants. Again, it won’t be a coincidence that i pharmaceutical products are the area with the fastest growth in patent applications with an increase of 10.2% compared to 2019 (8 600 applications). This could include developments related to fighting the pandemic, such as vaccines and medicines to control the disease. Still, Biotechnology up 6.3% which probably reflects the urgency of the analyzes – as in the case of proteins and nucleic acids – which are an important element in Covid-19 tests.
Meanwhile, i transport showed the greatest decline (-5.5%), especially in the sub-sectors in the fields of aviation and aerospace (-24.7%) and, to a lesser extent, automotive (-1.6%).
The companies that apply for the most patents: Samsung, Huawei and Lg
Also in the East the podium of the most innovative companies is built, according to this patent lens. The ranking of companies with the most requests at the EPO reflects the sustained growth of patent applications from China and South Korea with Samsung taking the top spot, followed by Huawei and LG.
And the Italian champions of innovation
“Despite Italy being one of the countries most affected by the pandemic, Italian companies and inventors managed to file a record number of patent applications in 2020”, the comment that the president of the EPO, António Campinos, entrusted to a note. “This is no small feat, and it is encouraging news because we know that it is research and science that will lead to a more sustainable world and that innovation is the engine of economic recovery.”
At the sector level, transport is the number one technology field for Italy (third year in a row) despite the 3.1% decline in 370 patent applications filed with EPO, down 3.1%. In any case, a figure that is better than the -5.5% of the sector average in the countries as a whole. For the medical technology (the most active technology sector ever at EPO), Italian inventors filed 6% more patent applications than in 2019, clearly exceeding the average increase of 2.6%. In terms of performance, however, the strongest growth among the main Italian technical sectors was achieved in furniture / games (+ 26.1%) and pharmaceuticals, which grew by 22.4%, more than double the growth. average of that field at the EPO.
As for innovative companies, in the EPO ranking with 81 applications, the GD tobacco machine supplier was the most active patent applicant in Italy, followed by the cable manufacturer Prysmian (57) and Pirelli (47), Chiesi Farmaceutici (38) , the aerospace and security company Leonardo (29), Ansaldo Energie (26), Freni Brembo (24), the Italian Institute of Technology IIT (22), Telecom Italia (22) and Saipem (21). Then there are “big filers”, ie large patent application producers such as CNH Industrial NV or STMicroelectronics NV that do not appear in this ranking as they are not registered in Italy but in the Netherlands.
Finally, the EPO data certify the importance of Lombardy which was the 11th region within the EU for EPO patent applications, with a 3% increase. L’Emilia Romagna was ranked 17th, up 3.6%. (Graph: main EU regions at EPO in 2020). Lombardy maintained its share of all Italian patent applications of almost 33.4%, making it the number one region in Italy for patent applications. Followed by Emilia Romagna, with a 16.8% share and Veneto (13% share).
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