EPO sees record patenting levels, but national fortunes are mixed

Only one country in the list of top 10 national filers saw a decline in its number of filings: applications from Italy were down 4%.

Applications from the US, South Korea, Japan and Switzerland all grew by more than 5% on 2011, according to figures released today by the EPO.

China now accounts for 7.3% of applications at the EPO. The picture for its fellow BRIC countries is mixed: applications from Brazil rose by 7.1%, while applications from Russia and India fell (7.7% and 8.7% respectively).