General
The Patent Index 2024 data published by the European Patent Office (“EPO”) indicate that, in the 2024–2025 period, the European patent ecosystem has remained largely stable in terms of overall filing volume; however, proportional increases and concentrations of filings have emerged in certain technology fields. In particular, computer technologies/artificial intelligence, energy and green technologies, as well as biotechnology, stand out among the technical fields both in terms of filing numbers and annual growth rates as of 2024. Developments observed in these areas are not limited to sectoral demand alone, but are also closely linked to digitalisation, increased data processing capacity, and the proliferation of interdisciplinary technical solutions. In this context, an assessment of European patent trends for 2024–2025 becomes more meaningful when focusing on filing increases and developments in examination practice, particularly in the fields of artificial intelligence and computer technologies, green energy solutions, and biotechnology.
Artificial Intelligence and Computer Technologies
According to the Patent Index 2024 data published by the EPO, computer technologies constituted the most active technical field before the EPO in 2024, with 16,815 patent applications filed. This corresponds to an approximate increase of 3.3% compared to the previous year. Within the EPO classification framework, computer technologies encompass artificial intelligence, machine learning, data processing, image and signal analysis, and algorithm-based technical solutions. Applications in this field cover not only software implementations but also hardware-interacting systems, data processing architectures, and algorithmic solutions producing a technical effect.
In recent years, the EPO’s approach to the assessment of the patentability of computer-implemented inventions has become more transparent and predictable. In particular, the further clarification of the concepts of technical character and technical effect has contributed to a more structured examination practice regarding the conditions under which artificial intelligence and algorithm-based solutions may be considered patentable. In this respect, it has become determinative in the assessment process that computer-implemented inventions are framed not as abstract computations, but as solutions serving a specific technical purpose or functioning as part of a technical system.
The data demonstrate that patent filings relating to digital technologies continue steadily across Europe, with artificial intelligence-based solutions increasingly intersecting with other technical fields such as medical devices, industrial automation, transportation systems, and energy management. This indicates that computer technologies should not be regarded as a standalone sector, but rather as a horizontal technological domain influencing multiple fields and evolving in alignment with the EPO’s established examination criteria.
Green Technologies and Energy
With regard to green technologies and the energy sector, EPO statistics show that patent applications under the category of electrical machinery and energy reached 16,142 in 2024, representing the highest annual growth rate among technical fields at approximately 8.9%. These applications cover subfields such as battery technologies, energy storage systems, power electronics, electric motors, and electric mobility infrastructure.
The increase in filing activity indicates that technical solutions relating to electric mobility, renewable energy integration, and energy efficiency have become more prominent in patenting activity. EPO data further demonstrate that this growth is not limited to new products, but is also supported by filings relating to system architectures, control methods, and energy management solutions. Accordingly, the share of green technologies and energy within European patent filings has increased in recent years.
Biotechnology
In the field of biotechnology, an increase of approximately 5% has been observed compared to the previous year. Considering that the overall number of applications remained largely stable during the same period, this increase indicates that biotechnology is among the technical fields demonstrating growth in filing volume as of 2024. Within the EPO classification framework, biotechnology applications encompass biological materials, genetically based technical solutions, cell and protein technologies, as well as related production and use methods.
However, patent applications in biotechnology involve significant technical and legal complexity in both drafting and examination stages, due to requirements such as the clear and sufficient disclosure of biological material, demonstration of reproducibility, and substantiation of the technical effect. In particular, the processing of complex biological data—such as genome sequences, protein structures, and cellular processes—has rendered the technical content of biotechnological inventions increasingly data-driven.
In this context, artificial intelligence and computer-based technologies play a supportive role in analysing large-scale biological datasets, modelling genetic variations, and developing technical solutions for predicting biological processes. The increasing use of such computational methods in biotechnological R&D contributes to making both the technical content of new inventions and the scope of patent applications more complex and multi-layered.
General Assessment
With the publication of the 2024 data in 2025, it is observed that while the overall number of patent applications within the European patent system has remained broadly stable, proportional increases have become prominent in specific technical fields. Computer technologies, energy, and biotechnology stand out before the EPO in terms of both filing volume and annual growth rates as of 2024.
This landscape suggests that, for the 2024–2025 period, the European patent ecosystem is more meaningfully assessed not by reference to total filing numbers alone, but rather through the distribution of filings across technology fields and their respective growth dynamics.
