The European Patent Office (EPO) released its annual report 2014 here on Thursday, noting that the patent filings it received in 2014 hit a new record high of 274,174, growing by 3.1 percent compared with the previous year.

A total of 64,600 patents were granted by the EPO in 2014.

Patent filings from the 38 member states of the EPO accounted for 35 percent of the total filings. Filings from Germany accounted for 11 percent, followed by France, Switzerland, the Netherlands, Britain, Sweden, and Italy.

Around two-thirds of the filings were from non-European countries. The United States (U.S.) accounted for the largest share with 26 percent, followed by Japan, China and South Korea.

Among the EPO member states, the Netherlands, France, and Britain showed significant growth, some countries like Germany and Sweden remained stable, while filings from countries such as Finland, Switzerland and Spain declined.

Of the top 10 enterprises in terms of applications filed at the EPO in 2014, Samsung headed the list with 2,541 applications in 2014, followed by Philips, Siemens, LG. Chinese company Huawei ranked 5th, with 1,600 patent filings in 2014.

The volume of applications grew most strongly in the fields of biotechnology, electrical machinery, computer technology, digital communication and measurement. However, applications went down in the fields of machinery, pumps and turbines, pharmaceuticals and organic chemistry.

"Demand for patent protection in Europe has been growing steadily, and is up for the fifth year in a row," said EPO President Benoit Battistelli, adding that Europe continued to strengthen its key role as a global hub of technology and innovation for a growing number of companies from around the world.

(Source: Xinhua)