Patent applications -4.5% in 2024 but Italy 5th in Europe

(ANSA) - ROME, MAR 25 - Patent requests filed by Italian applicants were down 4.5% in 2024 compared to the previous year although Italy ranked fifth in Europe and 11th in the world, according to a new study drafted by the European Patent Office (EPO) published by financial daily Sole24Ore on Tuesday.
    "After a couple of years of great growth in the number of patent requests in Italy, above the European average, a minor slowdown has been registered, a reduction that nevertheless confirms the country as fifth in Europe and 11th in the world", Roberta Romano Götsch, Chief Sustainability Officer at EPO, told ANSA.
    Key sectors were transport and handling, or technologies for the manipulation of products, goods and packaging, as well as technologies connected to engines, pumps and turbines, according to the report.
    The leading regions in terms of innovation were Lombardy, Emilia-Romagna and Veneto, followed by Tuscany and Lazio, it found.
    Overall, 4,853 patent applications were filed in Italy in 2024, down 4.5% from 2023, compared to the 199,264 patent applications on a global level presented to EPO, down 0.1% compared to the previous year.
    At a company level, Coesia, Ferrari and Iveco Group ranked at the top with, respectively, 167, 136 and 55 requests, followed by Leonardo and Pirelli, the report said. (ANSA).