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Patents 2020, over 4500 applications filed in Italy

In 2020, patent applications in the medical, biotech and medical technology sectors exploded, followed by information technology and digital technologies, which reached the European Patent Office (Epo) from all countries of the world.

In Italy, patent applications sent to the Epo last year have grown more than the average - by almost 3%. Pharmaceuticals are very good, but for us the real driving force is always transport and mechanics.

In 2020, Italian companies and inventors filed a total of 4,600 patent applications at the Epo, the highest number ever recorded. Although Italy was one of the countries most affected by the pandemic, the data are encouraging: research and science will lead us to a more sustainable world and innovations will be the engine of economic recovery.

The total number of European patent applications filed in 2020 is 180,250.

Overall, among the main technical sectors, pharmaceuticals (+ 10.2%) and biotechnology (+ 6.3%) recorded the greatest increases in terms of patent filing. Medical technology (+ 2.6%) was the field that saw most inventions in 2020, replacing digital communication.

In medical technology (the most active technology sector ever at Epo), Italian inventors filed 6% more patent applications than in 2019. In Italy, the strongest growth among the main technical sectors was recorded in applications for furniture / games (+ 6.1%) and pharmaceuticals, which increased by 22.4%.

With 81 applications, the GD tobacco machine supplier was the most active patent applicant in Italy, followed by cable manufacturer Prysmian (57) and Pirelli (47), Chiesi Farmaceutici (38), the aerospace and security company Leonardo (29), Ansaldo Energie (26), Brembo brakes (24), Italian Institute of Technology IIT (22), Telecom Italia (22) and Saipem (21).

Power of Italian regions.

At the regional level, the Lombardy region (which accounts for almost 33.4% in Italy) was the 11th region within the EU for filed patent applications, with an increase of 3%. The second, Emilia-Romagna (which in our country contributes 16.8% to the overall share) is in 17th place in Europe, up 3.6 percent. And both, together with Veneto (13%) represent over 60% of all patent applications from Italy to the European Patent Authority.

data taken from: ilsole24ore-brevetti2020