Siemens leads Germany in European patent applications

followed by Robert Bosch and BASF – submitted more European patent applications than any other German company in fiscal 2017. In addition, among companies worldwide that filed European patent applications in 2017, Siemens advanced from sixth to second place, after the Chinese company Huawei, which was ranked No. 1 for the first time. In 2017, Siemens filed patent applications in Europe for 2,220 inventions – about 19 percent more than in the previous year, representing a greater increase than was achieved by any other company among the top ten. The European Patent Office (EPO) published the latest statistics today in Brussels.

“This ranking proves that we’ve further expanded our power of innovation,” said Beat Weibel, head of the Intellectual Property department at Siemens. “Nevertheless, our focus is not just on the mere number of patents but also on the quality and the broad regional distribution of our protective rights. Above all, digitalization and the importance of the service business are making broader coverage necessary.”

Siemens holds a total of 63,000 patents worldwide. The company’s employees submitted around 7,450 invention disclosure reports in fiscal 2017. Based on 220 workdays a year, this represents an average of about 34 inventions per day.