Patent applicants and applications; technology field (IPC)

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Technology area Periods EPO-Patent applicants (number) EPO-Patent applications (number) EPO-Patent Applicants with foreign cooperation (number) EPO-Patent Applications with foreign cooperation (number) OCNL-Patent Patent applicants (number) OCNL-Patent Patent applications (number) OCNL-Patent Applicants with foreign cooperation (number) OCNL-Patent Applications with foreign cooperation (number)
All technology areas 2011 870 3,970 60 675 1,285 1,710 0 0
2012 895 4,015 70 635 1,195 1,560 0 0
2013 910 4,130 70 545 1,160 1,490 0 0
2014 910 4,385 70 440 1,175 1,660 15 15
2015 925 4,585 70 455 1,135 1,705 10 10
2016 910 4,195 65 455 1,115 1,615 10 10
2017 905 4,260 50 365 1,100 1,665 10 10
2018 900 4,195 80 365 1,075 1,635 15 15
2019 935 4,270 75 380 1,065 1,720 15 15
2020 980 4,255 85 485 1,105 1,645 20 20
2021** 970 4,305 65 515 1,100 1,635 20 15
2022* 565 2,660 50 205 900 1,450 10 15
A Human necessities 2011 309 1,115 19 212 410 491 0 0
2012 307 1,184 17 204 385 451 1 1
2013 325 1,235 27 171 353 401 0 0
2014 325 1,238 26 144 396 485 6 4
2015 336 1,371 32 163 370 470 2 1
2016 346 1,287 28 188 388 484 5 5
2017 359 1,363 27 153 373 477 6 6
2018 368 1,409 32 148 381 493 4 5
2019 360 1,311 29 115 403 519 6 6
2020 363 1,312 32 160 435 552 6 7
2021** 376 1,338 26 157 400 517 5 5
2022* 178 709 18 47 272 368 5 7
A1 Agriculture 2011 72 138 6 23 131 158 0 0
2012 77 159 3 4 109 141 0 0
2013 98 177 6 12 135 169 0 0
2014 83 143 7 6 135 178 2 2
2015 80 194 4 15 99 171 2 1
2016 87 154 4 12 118 154 3 3
2017 86 149 5 9 103 133 3 2
2018 87 149 7 10 124 160 0 0
2019 91 165 3 4 129 182 4 4
2020 89 177 6 16 127 168 3 4
2021** 116 194 4 15 134 179 2 2
2022* 55 77 5 6 112 144 2 2
A2 Foodstuffs and tobacco 2011 49 176 4 38 51 70 0 0
2012 60 233 4 51 46 62 0 0
2013 52 201 5 32 34 44 0 0
2014 52 194 5 34 37 64 0 0
2015 63 256 7 49 39 55 0 0
2016 52 189 5 45 42 66 0 0
2017 58 179 3 20 48 68 0 0
2018 52 216 5 28 38 53 0 0
2019 55 188 6 10 51 71 1 1
2020 54 169 6 14 53 73 1 1
2021** 75 197 8 14 57 71 0 0
2022* 31 60 2 2 41 70 0 0
A3 Personal or domestic articles 2011 60 126 4 6 132 148 0 0
2012 49 119 1 8 108 110 0 0
2013 53 130 5 9 100 90 0 0
2014 51 139 2 10 121 122 0 0
2015 51 118 5 9 108 108 0 0
2016 64 160 5 17 113 131 0 0
2017 59 145 5 9 94 100 3 4
2018 62 166 3 6 97 106 0 0
2019 54 155 2 8 103 105 0 0
2020 64 173 2 7 118 127 0 0
2021** 55 137 4 8 88 96 0 0
2022* 26 89 2 3 51 50 0 0
A4 Health and amusement 2011 171 761 12 169 133 140 0 0
2012 171 770 12 146 145 159 1 1
2013 171 808 21 131 113 116 0 0
2014 173 822 16 98 128 141 4 2
2015 198 887 25 107 147 155 0 0
2016 184 860 20 128 146 154 2 2
2017 206 971 23 123 153 198 1 1
2018 216 969 25 116 154 196 4 5
2019 207 877 24 98 164 195 3 3
2020 204 870 22 129 185 229 3 3
2021** 183 901 16 126 152 196 4 4
2022* 92 523 11 37 84 115 3 5
B Performing operations; transporting 2011 317 689 16 54 453 544 0 0
2012 297 697 17 41 401 502 1 1
2013 308 672 19 42 408 481 1 1
2014 319 808 21 51 422 536 6 8
2015 377 936 24 53 407 526 7 5
2016 340 822 17 48 390 493 4 4
2017 308 737 16 33 392 514 3 3
2018 312 710 20 25 377 497 1 1
2019 351 809 24 42 343 504 3 3
2020 357 791 27 56 374 524 2 2
2021** 339 726 26 60 370 534 6 6
2022* 219 420 17 19 315 473 4 4
B1 Separating and mixing 2011 87 236 10 23 75 89 0 0
2012 91 225 6 17 78 98 0 0
2013 79 181 8 16 90 94 1 1
2014 90 228 12 22 82 86 1 1
2015 102 267 9 16 82 89 2 1
2016 83 237 6 20 85 90 0 0
2017 85 173 5 6 59 62 0 0
2018 87 169 5 5 78 87 0 0
2019 102 215 7 19 76 84 0 0
2020 106 213 11 18 84 95 0 0
2021** 95 172 14 21 76 94 2 2
2022* 49 82 6 10 57 75 1 1
B2 Shaping 2011 97 166 6 12 96 109 0 0
2012 74 157 4 7 82 87 0 0
2013 89 175 8 13 92 96 0 0
2014 93 217 7 14 111 136 2 4
2015 112 257 11 12 102 118 2 2
2016 93 240 4 6 82 103 2 2
2017 80 221 5 6 79 105 1 1
2018 89 220 6 6 80 104 0 0
2019 103 258 7 7 86 122 1 1
2020 117 203 12 16 92 112 1 1
2021** 112 222 6 10 106 140 1 1
2022* 62 117 5 4 83 124 0 0
B3 Printing 2011 21 48 2 2 29 27 0 0
2012 18 46 1 1 12 21 0 0
2013 12 38 0 0 12 12 0 0
2014 21 72 0 0 15 14 0 0
2015 22 87 1 1 16 19 0 0
2016 19 79 0 0 10 14 0 0
2017 12 60 0 0 16 18 0 0
2018 20 58 1 2 22 24 0 0
2019 15 39 0 0 15 24 0 0
2020 8 22 1 1 11 17 0 0
2021** 8 17 0 0 11 16 0 0
2022* 8 29 0 0 8 9 0 0
B4 Transporting 2011 186 283 6 25 305 362 0 0
2012 182 314 10 20 265 324 1 1
2013 186 308 10 16 257 306 0 0
2014 183 362 8 17 252 329 3 3
2015 216 387 12 27 250 327 3 2
2016 197 320 12 28 254 315 2 2
2017 191 333 8 21 267 347 2 2
2018 180 298 9 12 240 307 1 1
2019 203 353 15 23 211 309 3 3
2020 209 405 15 26 235 333 2 2
2021** 179 358 11 31 222 321 2 2
2022* 143 217 10 8 202 296 4 3
B5 Micro-structural and nanotechnology 2011 14 14 1 1 6 4 0 0
2012 7 19 3 3 7 4 0 0
2013 8 8 1 1 3 3 0 0
2014 8 8 0 0 3 2 0 0
2015 6 10 1 2 1 1 0 0
2016 12 18 0 0 2 3 0 0
2017 9 7 2 1 6 7 0 0
2018 7 10 0 0 2 2 0 0
2019 9 11 1 1 6 4 0 0
2020 8 9 1 1 1 1 0 0
2021** 8 15 1 1 2 3 1 1
2022* 5 6 0 0 4 5 0 0
C Chemistry; metallurgy 2011 194 833 29 120 78 107 0 0
2012 177 794 26 108 106 105 0 0
2013 162 779 24 124 80 95 1 1
2014 174 886 28 113 71 85 2 2
2015 187 980 30 114 89 122 0 0
2016 169 848 26 109 75 94 1 1
2017 166 673 17 81 89 102 0 0
2018 181 773 32 124 87 119 1 1
2019 215 785 33 84 100 150 5 3
2020 215 832 33 135 89 115 5 5
2021** 208 802 26 161 111 144 1 1
2022* 125 342 22 43 93 150 2 3
C1 Chemistry 2011 186 790 28 115 74 103 0 0
2012 167 748 23 102 98 97 0 0
2013 155 753 23 123 74 85 1 1
2014 164 859 27 111 61 75 1 1
2015 182 950 28 111 81 112 0 0
2016 158 811 26 108 67 82 1 1
2017 160 648 17 81 84 96 0 0
2018 172 730 31 123 81 107 1 1
2019 204 740 31 82 89 131 5 3
2020 200 785 31 131 79 102 5 5
2021** 198 769 24 159 105 138 1 1
2022* 113 316 22 43 82 132 2 3
C2 Metallurgy 2011 19 55 2 5 6 6 0 0
2012 23 59 6 7 9 9 0 0
2013 22 37 1 1 9 13 0 0
2014 23 43 2 5 12 12 1 1
2015 23 43 4 4 11 12 0 0
2016 22 46 2 2 10 12 0 0
2017 18 35 0 0 7 7 0 0
2018 24 50 2 2 12 16 0 0
2019 24 61 2 2 16 22 0 0
2020 31 55 3 4 13 15 0 0
2021** 23 42 3 3 14 15 0 0
2022* 18 32 0 0 18 25 0 0
C3 Combinatorial technology 2011 2 2 0 0 . . . .
2012 4 4 0 0 . . . .
2013 . . . . . . . .
2014 . . . . 1 1 0 0
2015 . . . . . . . .
2016 2 1 0 0 . . . .
2017 . . . . . . . .
2018 . . . . . . . .
2019 1 1 0 0 . . . .
2020 1 1 1 1 . . . .
2021** . . . . . . . .
2022* . . . . . . . .
D Textiles; paper 2011 21 55 7 7 16 15 0 0
2012 17 60 4 8 7 8 0 0
2013 29 71 1 2 8 9 0 0
2014 19 51 5 6 12 12 0 0
2015 26 69 3 10 14 16 0 0
2016 30 68 2 13 17 16 0 0
2017 31 68 3 12 19 24 0 0
2018 23 34 5 7 14 15 0 0
2019 27 50 4 7 18 24 0 0
2020 21 35 1 2 11 11 0 0
2021** 28 41 1 8 18 20 1 1
2022* 18 25 2 2 11 11 0 0
D1 Textiles or flexible materials n.e.c. 2011 17 46 7 7 14 13 0 0
2012 12 42 3 6 6 7 0 0
2013 22 56 1 2 6 6 0 0
2014 16 43 5 6 10 10 0 0
2015 23 63 3 10 10 11 0 0
2016 26 61 2 13 13 11 0 0
2017 21 58 3 12 15 19 0 0
2018 20 31 4 6 12 12 0 0
2019 18 38 3 6 14 16 0 0
2020 18 29 1 2 10 9 0 0
2021** 25 37 1 8 14 15 0 0
2022* 15 19 2 2 8 9 0 0
D2 Paper 2011 6 11 0 0 2 2 0 0
2012 7 22 1 2 1 1 0 0
2013 10 17 0 0 2 3 0 0
2014 6 9 0 0 2 2 0 0
2015 5 7 0 0 4 5 0 0
2016 6 9 0 0 5 6 0 0
2017 12 12 0 0 5 6 0 0
2018 5 5 1 1 2 3 0 0
2019 10 12 1 1 6 9 0 0
2020 5 6 0 0 1 2 0 0
2021** 4 4 0 0 4 5 1 1
2022* 4 6 0 0 3 2 0 0
E Fixed constructions 2011 115 291 5 96 237 279 0 0
2012 128 303 8 98 219 274 0 0
2013 123 286 5 112 204 250 1 1
2014 136 304 8 90 235 299 2 2
2015 137 283 6 76 199 245 1 1
2016 122 253 4 68 196 243 1 1
2017 120 204 3 44 178 226 3 2
2018 107 170 4 28 176 209 1 1
2019 103 210 3 69 191 245 1 2
2020 116 244 2 89 168 198 2 2
2021** 127 269 6 97 181 217 4 2
2022* 69 121 3 35 157 187 0 0
E1 Building 2011 101 158 2 2 228 263 0 0
2012 117 167 6 6 214 267 0 0
2013 109 139 2 2 202 246 1 1
2014 125 178 8 11 225 269 2 2
2015 120 173 4 3 191 230 1 1
2016 113 147 2 2 192 230 1 1
2017 113 143 2 3 172 210 3 2
2018 104 127 4 4 170 197 1 1
2019 93 116 2 4 181 218 1 2
2020 106 137 1 1 161 185 2 2
2021** 117 155 5 4 173 207 4 2
2022* 63 82 2 2 149 173 0 0
E2 Earth or rock drilling and mining 2011 19 136 3 94 15 19 0 0
2012 14 138 2 92 6 8 0 0
2013 16 153 3 110 6 12 0 0
2014 16 129 1 80 15 31 0 0
2015 24 119 2 73 14 24 0 0
2016 15 109 2 66 12 19 0 0
2017 13 66 1 41 13 19 0 0
2018 10 49 1 25 14 17 0 0
2019 16 97 1 65 16 31 0 0
2020 14 110 1 88 11 15 0 0
2021** 14 116 1 93 13 13 0 0
2022* 7 39 1 33 15 21 0 0
F Mechanical engineering; lighting. 2011 145 333 4 18 191 227 0 0
2012 153 337 7 19 167 189 0 0
2013 168 408 15 29 183 220 0 0
2014 169 415 9 11 208 233 1 1
2015 150 386 8 11 176 208 1 1
2016 127 331 10 12 145 170 0 0
2017 137 326 2 6 164 216 0 0
2018 134 281 12 12 182 212 5 3
2019 144 350 9 13 180 218 3 4
2020 150 333 12 21 166 191 2 2
2021** 152 371 9 15 162 218 0 0
2022* 92 219 8 8 160 200 3 3
F1 Engines or pumps 2011 32 47 1 1 41 41 0 0
2012 46 65 2 5 34 37 0 0
2013 39 60 3 8 32 35 0 0
2014 37 52 3 3 40 38 1 1
2015 41 67 1 3 34 37 0 0
2016 41 56 4 4 36 41 0 0
2017 47 58 1 2 46 62 0 0
2018 24 37 1 2 35 52 0 0
2019 31 46 1 1 38 41 0 0
2020 31 44 2 7 40 53 0 0
2021** 39 67 2 5 38 63 0 0
2022* 26 33 3 3 42 57 2 2
F2 Engineering in general 2011 63 91 2 2 66 87 0 0
2012 70 99 4 7 61 74 0 0
2013 81 134 7 11 70 84 0 0
2014 85 122 5 5 90 105 0 0
2015 62 114 4 6 71 94 1 1
2016 56 92 2 3 53 69 0 0
2017 52 88 2 4 58 82 0 0
2018 61 84 5 6 73 80 2 2
2019 61 99 5 7 70 77 3 4
2020 73 97 9 12 56 61 1 1
2021** 69 92 3 4 64 80 0 0
2022* 44 55 5 5 52 61 1 1
F3 Lighting and heating 2011 76 206 2 11 103 108 0 0
2012 63 178 4 8 80 80 0 0
2013 75 225 6 8 86 104 0 0
2014 70 254 3 3 89 94 0 0
2015 65 215 4 5 81 83 0 0
2016 50 193 5 5 60 62 0 0
2017 55 184 0 0 73 78 0 0
2018 69 170 7 4 87 89 4 2
2019 73 213 4 5 85 103 0 0
2020 65 201 3 3 77 81 1 1
2021** 68 225 7 7 73 83 0 0
2022* 34 138 1 1 70 83 0 0
F4 Weapons and blasting 2011 5 10 1 4 5 4 0 0
2012 5 8 1 1 1 1 0 0
2013 4 7 1 2 3 3 0 0
2014 8 8 0 0 6 6 0 0
2015 2 7 0 0 2 3 0 0
2016 4 4 0 0 7 6 0 0
2017 6 8 0 0 6 5 0 0
2018 5 5 1 1 4 4 0 0
2019 5 6 2 2 2 2 0 0
2020 5 5 1 1 5 5 0 0
2021** 2 3 0 0 2 3 0 0
2022* 2 2 0 0 2 2 0 0
G Physics 2011 188 1,076 16 232 194 252 0 0
2012 193 1,012 22 229 188 231 0 0
2013 193 1,066 22 170 184 223 0 0
2014 178 1,165 15 107 169 277 2 2
2015 180 1,152 21 106 178 356 1 2
2016 192 1,077 20 107 200 336 2 2
2017 201 1,268 17 84 181 307 1 1
2018 204 1,233 23 86 170 338 4 3
2019 219 1,248 24 106 159 333 3 4
2020 229 1,174 31 128 180 307 3 4
2021** 215 1,187 21 126 169 227 3 2
2022* 122 860 13 54 152 253 1 1
G1 Physics: instruments 2011 187 1,068 16 228 194 250 0 0
2012 193 1,009 22 228 188 231 0 0
2013 193 1,059 22 170 184 222 0 0
2014 177 1,158 15 107 166 273 2 2
2015 177 1,145 21 106 177 354 1 2
2016 192 1,075 20 107 200 335 2 2
2017 201 1,266 17 84 178 304 1 1
2018 203 1,223 22 84 170 337 4 3
2019 215 1,236 24 105 158 331 3 4
2020 227 1,168 31 128 179 306 3 4
2021** 212 1,180 21 126 168 226 3 2
2022* 122 855 13 54 152 253 1 1
G2 Nucleonics 2011 6 14 2 6 4 4 0 0
2012 2 5 2 3 1 1 0 0
2013 4 13 1 1 1 1 0 0
2014 4 10 0 0 5 5 0 0
2015 6 12 0 0 2 3 0 0
2016 2 9 0 0 1 1 0 0
2017 3 10 0 0 4 4 0 0
2018 5 17 1 2 2 2 0 0
2019 6 14 1 1 3 2 0 0
2020 6 9 1 1 2 2 0 0
2021** 6 10 0 0 3 3 0 0
2022* 3 6 0 0 . . . .
H Electricity 2011 113 795 13 109 105 173 0 0
2012 129 841 18 103 116 142 0 0
2013 139 891 16 63 121 151 0 0
2014 139 892 11 48 113 172 0 0
2015 121 864 10 59 111 152 1 1
2016 115 798 14 48 113 145 1 1
2017 133 846 11 52 125 175 0 0
2018 131 813 16 50 106 166 3 3
2019 144 823 14 62 115 174 3 3
2020 137 831 16 55 121 182 5 4
2021** 137 807 14 53 121 177 2 2
2022* 87 629 16 64 101 178 5 5
Source: CBS.
Explanation of symbols

Table explanation


This table gives an overview of the number of patent applicants and patent applications at the European Patent Office (EPO) and the Netherlands Patent Office (OCNL), a department of the Netherlands Enterprise Agency (RVO). Patents can be granted to enterprises, universities, institutions, private persons or other entities as long as the invention which they cover fulfils certain criteria. To obtain a patent the invention must be novel, contain an inventive step and be industrially applicable. This is assessed by a patent office like the EPO or OCNL. The patent office will grant or reject the application.

The data are broken down by the technology field the invention relates to, according to the International Patent Classification (IPC). This does not necessarily have to be the same area in which the applicant is economically active (SIC).

If a patent application relates to multiple technology fields, it is counted in full for each separate technology field. Due to this method the total number of patents for the subcategories are usually higher than the overarching category to which they belong. For example, a patent application relating to subcategories A1 and A2 counts separately for both, but is only counted once under the overarching category ‘A Human necessities’. This method of counting provides insight into how many patent applications can actually be attributed to the individual technology fields and which technology fields occur more frequently within the overarching categories.

Data available from: 2011

Status of the figures:
The figures from 2011 to 2020 are final. The figures for 2021 are revised provisional. The figures for 2022 are provisional.

Changes as of December 8, 2025:
None, this is a new table.

When will new figures be published?
Beginning of 2026 the figures for 2021 and 2022 will be updated. Mid 2026 the figures for 2021 and 2022 will be updated and new figures for 2023 will be added.

Description topics

EPO-Patent
A patent that is granted by the European Patent Office (EPO) is valid in all member countries of the EPO. However, the EPO patent must be validated at the national patent office in order to be effective in member countries.
applicants
Enterprises who applied for a patent at the European Patent Office (EPO)in the period observed.
A patent that is granted by the European Patent Office (EPO) is valid in all member countries of the EPO. However the EPO patent must be validated at the national patent office in order to be effective in member countries.
applications
Patent applications at the European Patent Office (EPO) in the period observed.
A patent that is granted by the European Patent Office (EPO) is valid in all member countries of the EPO. However the EPO patent must be validated at the national patent office in order to be effective in member countries.
Applicants with foreign cooperation
Enterprises who applied for a patent at the European Patent Office (EPO) in the period observed, where the Dutch applicant has cooperated with a foreign entity for any of its applications.
Applications with foreign cooperation
Patent applications at the European Patent Office (EPO) in the period observed, where the Dutch applicant has cooperated with a foreign entity for this specific application.
OCNL-Patent
A patent that is granted by NL Patent Office (OCNL), a division of Agency NL, is only valid in the Netherlands.
Patent applicants
Enterprises who applied for a patent at the Netherlands Patent Office (OCNL), a department of the Netherlands Enterprise Agency (RVO), in the period observed.
A patent that is granted by NL Patent Office (OCNL), a division of Agency NL, is only valid in the Netherlands.

Patent applications
Patent applications at the Netherlands Patent Office (OCNL), a department of the Netherlands Enterprise Agency (RVO), in the period observed.
A patent that is granted by NL Patent Office (OCNL), a division of Agency NL, is only valid in the Netherlands.
Applicants with foreign cooperation
Enterprises who applied for a patent at the Netherlands Patent Office (OCNL), a department of the Netherlands Enterprise Agency (RVO), in the period observed, where the Dutch applicant has cooperated with a foreign entity for any of its applications.
Applications with foreign cooperation
Patent applications at the Netherlands Patent Office (OCNL), a department of the Netherlands Enterprise Agency (RVO), in the period observed, where the Dutch applicant has cooperated with a foreign entity for this specific application.