European Patent Office

With 6 300 staff members, including 4 000 engineers covering all technical fields, the European Patent Office (EPO) is the second largest international organisation in Europe. Through its centralised patent granting procedure which manages 200 000 applications per year, inventors are able to obtain high-quality patent protection and an easy access in up to 45 countries, covering a market of some 700 million people. The EPO is also a global leading authority in patent intelligence with the most comprehensive databases (150 million documents). To further support the innovation ecosystem, in particular startups and research universities, the EPO launched in 2023 its Observatory on Patents and Technology, analysing trends and policies, and launching new tools such as the Deep Tech Finder - a unique free service that helps find investment-ready European startups with EPO patent applications. A startup with a European patent has 10 times more chance in the early stage to attract investors.