In its Annual Report 2018, the European Patent Office (EPO) has published statistics on patent applications originating from Switzerland.

A record number of patent applications were filed from Switzerland in the past year. “With regard to patents, Switzerland demonstrated very significant growth in 2018,” said EPO President António Campinos. According to the report, Switzerland is the country with the most patent applications per inhabitant. “This highlights the country’s outstanding potential for innovation,” Campinos added.

Once again, Vaud was the canton with the highest number of applications. For the fourth year running, Roche was the most active Swiss company in terms of applications filed with the EPO. The higher education institutes ETH Zurich, EPF Lausanne and the University of Zurich are among the top 25 Swiss patent applicants.

Further information and figures: Annual Report 2018