Friday 14 March 2014

A one horse town

In my posting last week [Pangloss strikes again] I looked to filing numbers at the European Patent Office.

A reader asks "Any idea why Netherlands has such a massive increase? Did some very prolific filers move their registered offices there?".  Well, Dutch filing numbers decreased from 2010 to 2012 by more than they have increased from 2012 to 2013, so it is not totally sunny yet.

And one prolific filer did not change registered office, but did take breath. From the following table showing European applications made over 2010-2013:-

2013

2012

2011

2010

Philips 1839 1160 1759 1765
% change from previous year 59% -34% 0%
Non-Philips 3987 3903 3852 4169
% change from previous year 2% 1% -8%
Netherlands 5826 5063 5611 5934
% change from previous year 15% -10% -5%

it is evident that:-
  • Philips provides innovation that matters to the Netherlands;
  • 2012 was important;
  • Philips is back on track.
It is up to guesswork as to how many of the 2013 filings represent deferred 2012 filings. 

If anyone from Philips is reading, would they care to comment?

Thursday 6 March 2014

Pangloss strikes again

Here we are again

In a recurring ritual the EPO has announced in a press release today "Patent filings at the EPO reach all-time high".

As mentioned in previous posts EPO press releases excite more than inform. A more nuanced picture can be gained by looking to the raw data which can be found here.

So let us analyse some statements in the press release:-

"Patent filings at the EPO grew by 2.8% last year and hit another all-time high,"

Correct, but only if you define patent filings as including PCT applications that will never be subject of any activity in Europe. 

"The EPO granted 66700 European patents, which was 1.6% more than in 2012 (65600) and the highest number ever." 

Correct, and this is to be applauded. 

"Europe continues to be a key market for innovation" 

This is dubious. Looking into the statistics for patent applications [EPO filings and PCT applications entering the regional phase] a slightly different picture is presented:-


Country of Origin 2013 2012 % change
EP Member States 73,420 73,098 0.4%
United States of America 33,834 35,207 -3.9%
Japan 22,555 22,659 -0.5%
China, People's Republic of 4,056 3,732 8.7%
Republic of Korea 6,336 5,719 10.8%
Others 7,668 8,147 -5.9%
Total "rest of world" 74,449 75,464 -1.3%
Overall total 147,869 148,562 -0.5%

The overall total of applications received by the EPO has dropped by half a percent. The total from non-EPO applicants [the rest of the world] has dropped by more than one percent. 

"US with stable increase, Asian countries drivers of growth"

US declining strongly, which matters given its size. Japan down a little, only China and Korea advancing fast - but note the absolute numbers from China and Korea are still relatively low [this may change of course, particularly if the unitary patent comes into effect (see here)].

"In total, filings from Asia accounted for nearly three-quarters of the increase at the EPO in 2013"

It would be more correct to state that it was only the rise in China and Korea that mitigated the catastrophic drop in filings from the rest of the world.

"European industry maintained its patenting activities at the same level as in the previous year, with marked regional differences"

You could say that. 
Country of Origin20132012% change
Germany26,64527,276-2.3%
France9,7549,918-1.7%
Switzerland6,6516,685-0.5%
Netherlands5,8265,06315.1%
United Kingdom4,5674,717-3.2%
Italy3,7043,753-1.3%
Sweden3,6683,5303.9%
other EPO member states12,60512,1563.7%
Total EPO member states73,42073,0980.44%

Larger countries declined, smaller ones grew. Netherlands accounted for most of the growth.

Conclusions

Europe is beginning to fight its way back, but "stagnation" is the best word to describe the innovation landscape, so far as this is represented by patent applications. 

The number of patent applications [European and Euro-PCT] in 2013 was over 2% down on the maximum in 2010.  

The rest of the world is doing very well, but are losing interest in Europe [or at least the EPO - it would be interesting to see what is happening to national filings].

Press reports are not always the best publicity.  

If you have a problem, face it.