European Patent Office (EPO) highlights record number of applications in the North Region
19 Apr 2022
The European Patent Office (EPO) has highlighted the Norte region as the leader in intellectual property registration processes originating in Portugal, with the Greater Porto area occupying a prominent place, thus positioning itself as the engine of the macro region.
Data recently published by Semanário Expresso indicates that the Portuguese economy closed the year 2021 with 286 requests at the EPO, which is a new national record.
The Portuguese start-up Feedzai, specialising in artificial intelligence in the detection of bank card fraud, and with an office in the city of Porto, was the entity that led this national ranking, with 17 patent requests. In the top 10 it is also possible to find four other companies present in Greater Porto, namely the health technology start-up Sword Health (12 patents; 3rd place), Novadelta - Comércio e Indústria de Cafés (11 patents; 4th place) and Abyssal (5 patents; 10th place).
These data reinforce the affirmation of Porto as a technological hub, a city with a business-friendly, stimulating, competitive and facilitating environment, concentrating a series of characteristics that transmit confidence to national and foreign companies for the development of innovative solutions.
Semanário Expresso also points out that the figures released by the EPO highlight the recovery of patent registration in Portugal: "It is the strongest growth in Europe (among countries with more than 200 patent applications) and more than five times the average rate of the EU27 (2.7%)".
One can also read in the data communicated by the EPO that universities and research institutes are the largest applicants for patents in the country, thus affirming their important role as fundamental agents in boosting innovation in Portugal.
With regard to the sectors that have applied for the most patents in Portugal, the EPO said that computer science led the way with a total of 32 applications - a trend that reflects Feedzai's own leadership, while also highlighting the notable growth in biotechnology, which came in second place with a total of 31 applications. Third place went to health technologies, with 29 requests.
Semanário Expresso also states that, at a global level, there was an increase of 4.5% compared to 2020, adding a total of 188,600 patent applications.
Source: Semanário Expresso
