EUROPE
November 03, 2025
Spain is excelling in the field of European patents originating from Public Research Organizations (PROs).
A recent study by the European Patent Office (EPO) Observatory on Patents and Technology ranks Spain as the European country with the highest percentage growth in PROs patent applications between 2001 and 2020: we are talking about a cumulative increase of 365% (from 57 applications in 2001 to 265 in 2020).
In cumulative terms, this study shows that European public bodies filed nearly 63,000 European patent applications in the last two decades.
Specifically, this study shows that between 2011 and 2020, PROs in Spain contributed around 3,000 European patent applications, making Spain one of the most active countries in Europe, alongside France (25,352), Germany (18,276), the Netherlands (3,803), and Belgium (3,084), among others.
France (13.9%), Spain (11.9%), and Belgium (9.5%) have the highest national shares of European patents originating from PROs.
The most prominent sectors are biotechnology and pharmaceuticals, followed by measurement technologies, semiconductors, information technology, and other strategic areas of applied research. The strong predominance of life sciences during the most recent period under study (2016-2020) is also notable.
The report ranks the Spanish National Research Council (CSIC) as one of the most active Public Research Organizations in terms of European patent applications between 2001 and 2020 (1,069), followed by other organizations such as the Catalan Institution for Research and Advanced Studies (ICREA), with 266 applications, and the Consorcio Centro de Investigación Biomédica en Red (CIBER), with 182 applications.