Catalonia leads in patent applications in Spain in 2022

Catalonia leads the charts in patent applications made from Spain in 2022, as the European Patent Office (EPO) annual report unveiled on Tuesday shows. 

A total of 604 applications were submitted from the territory, 31.4% of Spain's overall. However, the number of patents fell 7.4% compared to last year's figures.

Among applications from Catalonia, the education and research centers, Autonomous University of Barcelona (UAB) and the University of Barcelona (UB) submitted the most, with 15 and 12 respectively. 

Once again, the scientific and health-related industries were the most active. There were 66 patent applications for medical technology, 63 in the pharmaceutical field, and 57 for biotechnology. 

These figures show the "industrial" Catalan tradition and the importance of the pharmaceutical industry in the territory, as "this sector is the leader in patent applications in Spain, and is mainly based in Catalonia," Luis Berenguer, the spokesperson of the EPO, said.

Following Catalonia, Madrid submitted 410 patent applications and the Basque Country was third out of Spain with 255 patent applications.

Overall, Spain submitted 1,925 patent applications to the EPO in 2022, its second-highest figure in history, after reaching 1,945 in 2021.

"Figures show that innovation is a sector that, more than ever, is needed, including during crisis and wars," Berenguer said, referring to the Covid-19 pandemic and the war in Ukraine.

Rejecting Europe's Unitary Patent

On June 1, 2023 the Unitary Patent project will come into effect, allowing patent applications to be submitted in one country and be respected across Europe. However, Spain will not be among the countries joining this agreement.

The Spanish government has ruled out taking part as the process does not allow patent applications to be submitted in Spanish, as English, French, and German are the only languages allowed to apply for a patent.

The executive says that the "great importance the language has worldwide" should be enough to allow applications to be also written in Spanish.

The move will force applicants to submit two documents for a unique patent.