EUROPEAN PATENT OFFICE : RECORD NUMBER OF FILINGS TO EPO.

Europe remains an attractive market for those interested in protecting their inventions, judging from the figures, published on 16 January, by the European Patent Office (EPO), the intergovernmental body in charge of registering European patents. The figures show a 2.8% increase in 2013 compared with 2012: more than 265,000 patent applications were submitted from across the globe, a new record. After the slump seen in 2008 and 2009 in the wake of the crisis, patent applications have increased steadily, explains EPO President Benoit Battistelli. He commented: "Despite a recent rule change in the application procedure, demand for patents in Europe is clearly on the rise. The figures underline Europe's importance as a stronghold of global innovation".

The key tendencies of recent years in terms of the geographical origin of patent filings are confirmed: 93,600 filings (35.3% of the total...