Patent applicants and applications; technology field (CPC)

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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 319 1,190 21 232 332 405 0 0
2012 328 1,268 20 226 375 444 1 1
2013 342 1,336 29 182 357 407 0 0
2014 332 1,346 27 150 297 389 6 4
2015 349 1,498 33 166 261 378 2 1
2016 369 1,406 32 199 291 395 4 4
2017 374 1,487 26 156 275 361 5 5
2018 385 1,514 32 151 277 381 4 5
2019 373 1,387 30 118 325 428 4 4
2020 380 1,386 33 161 444 559 6 7
2021** 387 1,407 26 158 402 515 5 5
2022* 182 725 20 48 271 369 5 7
A1 Agriculture 2011 72 138 6 23 112 136 0 0
2012 78 158 3 4 107 141 0 0
2013 101 182 6 10 134 171 0 0
2014 85 147 6 6 97 142 2 2
2015 85 199 5 16 74 147 2 1
2016 101 172 4 12 100 139 3 3
2017 90 160 5 11 73 105 2 1
2018 94 160 7 13 90 127 0 0
2019 96 172 4 6 102 142 2 2
2020 92 183 6 16 129 170 3 4
2021** 124 202 4 14 139 181 2 2
2022* 55 77 5 6 108 140 2 2
A2 Foodstuffs and tobacco 2011 51 183 5 40 41 60 0 0
2012 65 247 4 52 50 66 0 0
2013 53 229 5 33 36 46 0 0
2014 58 222 5 36 38 63 0 0
2015 70 287 7 49 36 58 0 0
2016 56 205 5 45 32 58 0 0
2017 69 201 4 23 34 45 0 0
2018 64 235 5 28 29 40 0 0
2019 62 207 6 9 40 58 1 1
2020 61 181 7 15 54 73 0 0
2021** 81 211 9 16 58 72 0 0
2022* 32 63 2 2 39 70 0 0
A3 Personal or domestic articles 2011 62 134 3 6 102 111 0 0
2012 63 143 1 10 100 106 0 0
2013 59 159 6 17 101 93 0 0
2014 52 162 2 13 80 89 0 0
2015 53 144 5 12 59 74 0 0
2016 67 184 5 24 75 99 0 0
2017 65 163 5 8 63 72 3 4
2018 69 179 6 7 65 76 0 0
2019 57 170 2 9 71 74 0 0
2020 66 177 2 7 113 123 0 0
2021** 53 144 2 8 86 92 0 0
2022* 32 96 2 2 53 52 0 0
A4 Health and amusement 2011 184 833 14 190 114 121 0 0
2012 179 844 15 169 147 159 1 1
2013 191 896 22 143 121 124 0 0
2014 181 916 19 103 108 120 4 2
2015 209 1,027 24 110 119 129 0 0
2016 199 957 25 135 118 131 1 1
2017 218 1,078 21 124 131 162 1 2
2018 221 1,055 24 121 122 158 4 5
2019 215 950 25 101 144 179 2 2
2020 222 943 22 130 190 230 3 3
2021** 191 980 16 135 155 198 4 4
2022* 93 537 13 40 86 118 3 5
B Performing operations; transporting 2011 347 803 20 64 407 500 0 0
2012 329 828 19 48 393 516 1 1
2013 331 790 20 57 419 492 1 1
2014 347 990 21 57 379 501 4 6
2015 405 1,135 26 61 342 475 7 5
2016 364 996 16 57 333 451 4 4
2017 338 895 17 39 324 459 4 3
2018 357 867 23 31 333 461 2 2
2019 393 939 29 50 325 488 3 3
2020 391 918 26 62 393 556 3 3
2021** 366 820 27 63 389 565 6 6
2022* 228 454 18 21 320 491 4 4
B1 Separating and mixing 2011 108 283 12 29 76 85 0 0
2012 109 278 7 20 89 109 0 0
2013 95 242 9 25 83 87 0 0
2014 116 330 13 27 84 87 1 1
2015 124 386 8 20 74 80 2 1
2016 98 314 5 23 72 82 0 0
2017 98 218 6 8 53 59 0 0
2018 103 232 8 9 76 93 0 0
2019 133 277 12 28 81 88 0 0
2020 117 247 10 20 88 99 0 0
2021** 119 221 15 26 95 111 2 2
2022* 56 97 6 10 63 83 1 1
B2 Shaping 2011 110 215 7 14 111 124 0 0
2012 97 213 8 13 88 100 0 0
2013 108 222 6 14 111 122 0 0
2014 108 278 7 16 111 141 1 3
2015 136 340 14 19 102 130 2 2
2016 99 303 5 12 89 108 2 2
2017 104 294 6 7 90 116 3 2
2018 110 277 6 7 88 115 0 0
2019 128 309 8 8 93 134 1 1
2020 135 243 12 18 100 121 1 1
2021** 120 257 7 11 114 151 1 1
2022* 66 126 5 5 88 130 0 0
B3 Printing 2011 17 46 2 2 23 22 0 0
2012 21 55 1 1 13 22 0 0
2013 15 48 0 0 11 11 1 1
2014 24 87 0 0 17 17 0 0
2015 22 99 1 1 11 14 0 0
2016 23 96 0 0 12 16 0 0
2017 12 64 0 0 15 16 0 0
2018 20 62 1 2 15 16 0 0
2019 17 43 0 0 17 25 0 0
2020 8 28 1 1 13 17 0 0
2021** 12 23 0 0 9 15 0 0
2022* 8 29 0 0 8 10 0 0
B4 Transporting 2011 201 313 6 28 262 317 0 0
2012 191 340 9 20 252 319 1 1
2013 197 338 13 23 261 306 0 0
2014 184 392 8 18 213 294 2 2
2015 226 423 13 30 212 289 3 2
2016 209 371 12 30 209 280 2 2
2017 211 384 8 22 217 304 1 1
2018 201 346 11 13 197 271 2 2
2019 219 393 15 20 195 292 2 2
2020 218 460 15 31 237 349 3 3
2021** 187 384 11 29 231 337 2 2
2022* 152 234 10 8 202 303 4 3
B5 Micro-structural and nanotechnology 2011 16 30 3 3 4 8 0 0
2012 13 36 3 3 8 14 0 0
2013 5 7 0 0 2 2 0 0
2014 9 16 0 0 3 3 0 0
2015 13 22 1 2 4 4 0 0
2016 13 23 0 0 2 3 0 0
2017 14 19 4 4 6 8 0 0
2018 17 24 1 2 1 1 0 0
2019 19 23 3 3 9 8 0 0
2020 13 15 0 0 3 4 0 0
2021** 12 18 1 1 3 8 1 1
2022* 3 3 0 0 2 5 0 0
C Chemistry; metallurgy 2011 203 887 30 130 73 95 0 0
2012 187 859 27 110 114 116 0 0
2013 173 837 28 131 84 102 1 1
2014 192 967 33 129 72 85 4 2
2015 200 1,049 32 125 71 102 0 0
2016 185 935 25 120 73 92 0 0
2017 194 762 21 96 78 92 0 0
2018 197 828 34 132 84 108 1 1
2019 235 853 36 92 103 138 5 3
2020 236 894 35 142 104 131 4 4
2021** 226 867 31 174 117 152 2 2
2022* 126 345 23 43 99 159 2 3
C1 Chemistry 2011 196 844 29 125 69 91 0 0
2012 179 811 24 104 108 110 0 0
2013 163 809 26 129 80 93 1 1
2014 182 933 33 128 64 77 4 2
2015 194 1,016 30 122 63 92 0 0
2016 174 899 25 118 65 80 0 0
2017 189 737 21 96 73 86 0 0
2018 186 782 33 131 74 93 1 1
2019 224 803 33 89 94 120 5 3
2020 219 841 33 138 94 118 4 4
2021** 213 825 29 172 107 142 2 2
2022* 114 318 23 43 87 141 2 3
C2 Metallurgy 2011 18 59 2 5 6 9 0 0
2012 24 67 6 7 7 8 0 0
2013 24 43 2 2 10 15 0 0
2014 25 61 1 5 12 12 0 0
2015 28 57 5 5 14 14 0 0
2016 26 55 3 4 13 14 0 0
2017 17 39 0 0 7 8 0 0
2018 29 57 2 2 15 19 0 0
2019 28 62 4 4 17 22 0 0
2020 35 65 3 5 13 15 0 0
2021** 27 54 4 4 15 16 0 0
2022* 20 34 0 0 20 28 1 1
C3 Combinatorial technology 2011 2 2 0 0 . . . .
2012 2 2 0 0 . . . .
2013 . . . . . . . .
2014 . . . . . . . .
2015 1 1 0 0 . . . .
2016 2 1 0 0 . . . .
2017 2 1 0 0 . . . .
2018 . . . . . . . .
2019 3 3 0 0 . . . .
2020 2 2 1 1 . . . .
2021** . . . . . . . .
2022* . . . . . . . .
D Textiles; paper 2011 27 73 8 10 11 10 0 0
2012 21 68 4 9 19 11 0 0
2013 31 77 1 2 12 13 1 1
2014 20 66 6 7 11 13 0 0
2015 26 73 3 10 11 13 0 0
2016 35 75 2 11 19 19 0 0
2017 37 78 3 14 22 25 0 0
2018 25 41 5 7 9 10 0 0
2019 25 52 4 10 14 22 0 0
2020 21 35 1 2 11 11 0 0
2021** 27 41 1 7 18 21 1 1
2022* 19 27 2 2 11 11 0 0
D1 Textiles or flexible materials n.e.c. 2011 22 61 7 9 10 9 0 0
2012 15 48 3 7 18 10 0 0
2013 23 60 1 1 9 9 0 0
2014 17 52 6 7 9 11 0 0
2015 21 66 3 10 9 10 0 0
2016 29 66 2 11 16 14 0 0
2017 26 67 3 14 15 19 0 0
2018 22 37 4 5 8 8 0 0
2019 16 41 3 9 10 14 0 0
2020 17 28 1 2 10 9 0 0
2021** 25 37 1 7 13 15 0 0
2022* 16 21 2 2 8 9 0 0
D2 Paper 2011 7 14 1 1 1 1 0 0
2012 8 24 1 2 1 1 0 0
2013 12 20 1 1 3 4 1 1
2014 6 15 0 0 2 2 0 0
2015 6 7 0 0 2 3 0 0
2016 8 12 0 0 4 6 0 0
2017 15 14 0 0 8 7 0 0
2018 6 6 2 2 1 2 0 0
2019 9 11 1 1 5 8 0 0
2020 6 7 0 0 1 2 0 0
2021** 3 4 0 0 5 6 1 1
2022* 4 6 0 0 3 2 0 0
E Fixed constructions 2011 120 316 5 106 183 228 0 0
2012 135 320 9 103 203 253 0 0
2013 135 308 6 112 208 259 1 1
2014 140 313 10 87 189 255 2 2
2015 141 283 6 73 153 202 1 1
2016 130 274 4 70 150 197 1 1
2017 127 222 3 47 128 173 3 2
2018 112 180 4 30 133 163 0 0
2019 107 227 3 73 143 194 1 2
2020 123 252 2 87 167 200 2 2
2021** 126 276 8 109 171 212 4 2
2022* 68 120 3 35 156 185 0 0
E1 Building 2011 108 168 2 2 176 215 0 0
2012 121 177 6 7 198 245 0 0
2013 121 160 3 3 206 256 1 1
2014 131 186 9 11 184 231 2 2
2015 127 181 4 3 144 186 1 1
2016 123 162 2 2 147 185 1 1
2017 120 157 2 3 123 159 3 2
2018 107 134 3 3 127 151 0 0
2019 97 125 2 3 134 167 1 2
2020 114 148 2 2 160 187 2 2
2021** 117 151 7 4 164 203 4 2
2022* 62 82 2 2 148 173 0 0
E2 Earth or rock drilling and mining 2011 18 153 3 104 13 16 0 0
2012 18 146 3 96 7 10 0 0
2013 18 156 3 109 6 13 0 0
2014 18 131 2 77 11 27 0 0
2015 19 109 2 70 15 24 0 0
2016 14 113 2 68 9 16 0 0
2017 14 71 1 44 14 23 0 0
2018 9 49 1 27 11 14 0 0
2019 15 104 1 70 14 30 0 0
2020 13 107 1 86 10 14 0 0
2021** 13 127 1 105 11 11 0 0
2022* 6 38 1 33 11 15 0 0
F Mechanical engineering; lighting. 2011 159 404 5 30 185 215 0 0
2012 176 423 11 31 172 204 0 0
2013 181 483 16 36 199 242 0 0
2014 182 476 11 14 200 236 2 2
2015 171 476 8 12 160 205 1 1
2016 159 399 13 15 135 159 0 0
2017 159 395 3 10 141 195 1 1
2018 156 317 12 13 151 190 5 3
2019 164 388 9 14 160 195 3 5
2020 161 347 13 23 174 204 3 3
2021** 162 391 10 17 173 232 0 0
2022* 94 221 9 11 161 201 3 3
F1 Engines or pumps 2011 41 79 2 6 40 41 0 0
2012 59 109 3 11 38 43 0 0
2013 44 76 3 11 37 42 0 0
2014 39 60 4 4 34 33 1 1
2015 45 82 1 3 30 35 0 0
2016 51 69 5 5 32 32 0 0
2017 50 73 1 3 37 45 0 0
2018 30 48 1 2 32 49 0 0
2019 35 50 1 1 34 36 0 0
2020 34 50 3 10 37 52 0 0
2021** 42 70 2 6 37 63 0 0
2022* 28 34 3 3 43 58 2 2
F2 Engineering in general 2011 68 108 3 8 70 85 0 0
2012 82 113 6 10 74 89 0 0
2013 96 160 10 15 78 94 0 0
2014 100 144 5 5 97 121 1 1
2015 77 147 4 6 75 105 1 1
2016 84 124 4 5 62 79 0 0
2017 62 112 2 6 59 95 1 1
2018 69 96 4 6 68 84 2 2
2019 74 120 5 8 73 85 3 5
2020 74 99 8 10 64 73 1 1
2021** 76 101 4 5 74 91 0 0
2022* 44 56 5 7 50 58 1 1
F3 Lighting and heating 2011 83 233 2 12 98 103 0 0
2012 70 217 5 11 71 77 0 0
2013 75 263 6 9 93 112 0 0
2014 73 293 5 6 86 91 0 0
2015 72 266 4 5 70 76 0 0
2016 56 223 5 5 49 52 0 0
2017 70 220 1 1 58 62 0 0
2018 78 183 8 5 66 65 4 2
2019 83 233 4 5 70 83 0 0
2020 70 207 4 4 77 81 2 2
2021** 71 233 7 7 76 86 0 0
2022* 35 136 2 2 71 85 0 0
F4 Weapons and blasting 2011 6 12 1 4 4 3 0 0
2012 5 9 2 2 1 1 0 0
2013 5 8 2 3 2 2 0 0
2014 7 7 0 0 4 4 0 0
2015 3 10 1 1 1 1 0 0
2016 4 5 0 0 4 4 0 0
2017 6 9 0 0 5 4 0 0
2018 5 5 1 1 4 4 0 0
2019 5 6 2 2 . . . .
2020 5 5 1 1 5 5 0 0
2021** 2 3 0 0 2 3 0 0
2022* 2 3 0 0 2 2 0 0
G Physics 2011 209 1,174 15 252 174 203 0 0
2012 221 1,190 27 258 194 239 0 0
2013 203 1,214 23 185 191 238 0 0
2014 211 1,351 17 123 166 283 5 3
2015 215 1,378 22 119 167 351 3 3
2016 213 1,333 22 117 153 288 2 2
2017 237 1,518 21 98 158 286 0 0
2018 238 1,452 27 99 159 301 5 4
2019 239 1,446 24 120 152 280 3 4
2020 244 1,341 33 141 193 276 3 4
2021** 238 1,341 22 141 184 256 3 3
2022* 126 923 13 56 160 261 2 2
G1 Physics: instruments 2011 208 1,166 15 249 174 201 0 0
2012 221 1,188 27 256 194 239 0 0
2013 202 1,203 23 184 190 234 0 0
2014 210 1,346 17 123 164 278 2 2
2015 212 1,371 22 119 165 347 3 3
2016 213 1,328 22 117 153 287 2 2
2017 236 1,510 21 97 156 284 0 0
2018 237 1,445 26 97 159 300 5 4
2019 235 1,435 24 120 152 279 3 4
2020 242 1,335 33 141 192 275 3 4
2021** 237 1,338 22 141 184 256 3 3
2022* 126 918 13 56 160 261 2 2
G2 Nucleonics 2011 6 16 2 7 2 2 0 0
2012 4 10 2 7 3 3 0 0
2013 6 21 2 3 4 5 0 0
2014 5 11 0 0 8 9 3 1
2015 6 15 0 0 6 12 0 0
2016 2 15 0 0 1 1 0 0
2017 4 16 1 1 3 3 0 0
2018 4 14 1 2 2 3 0 0
2019 7 17 2 2 3 3 0 0
2020 6 11 1 1 3 3 0 0
2021** 5 7 1 1 1 1 0 0
2022* 3 7 0 0 . . . .
H Electricity 2011 135 889 14 121 101 157 0 0
2012 152 972 19 118 122 147 0 0
2013 161 1,019 16 74 134 171 0 0
2014 159 1,048 13 49 117 174 0 0
2015 138 1,011 13 65 106 180 1 1
2016 133 912 14 53 107 174 2 2
2017 164 991 14 53 115 199 0 0
2018 162 958 17 58 112 200 4 4
2019 158 930 16 66 124 204 3 3
2020 166 961 18 61 139 213 6 5
2021** 156 934 16 61 134 194 4 4
2022* 94 687 15 62 110 190 5 5
Y New/cross-sectional developments 2011 199 606 17 59 193 231 0 0
2012 218 601 17 39 153 184 1 1
2013 155 416 16 30 134 171 0 0
2014 144 446 13 20 130 152 0 0
2015 158 458 13 22 131 155 0 0
2016 170 425 14 14 133 163 2 2
2017 169 414 7 10 160 197 1 1
2018 185 403 10 17 170 208 1 1
2019 186 415 15 20 177 211 1 1
2020 202 493 16 37 166 213 5 4
2021** 162 331 12 28 96 134 2 2
2022* 60 100 3 3 54 70 2 2
Y1 Mitigation against climate change 2011 141 392 11 32 163 198 0 0
2012 154 399 10 23 128 149 0 0
2013 136 364 16 27 128 163 0 0
2014 133 414 12 19 123 144 0 0
2015 151 437 11 19 128 152 0 0
2016 161 410 13 13 131 160 2 2
2017 165 398 6 9 158 194 1 1
2018 182 395 10 17 169 207 1 1
2019 183 411 14 19 175 209 0 0
2020 200 490 16 37 164 211 5 4
2021** 161 330 12 28 96 134 2 2
2022* 60 100 3 3 54 70 2 2
Y2 Other cross-sectional developments 2011 91 251 8 28 41 42 0 0
2012 95 229 12 18 32 38 1 1
2013 34 68 1 4 10 12 0 0
2014 26 42 1 1 10 9 0 0
2015 16 30 2 3 6 7 0 0
2016 18 23 1 1 10 9 0 0
2017 15 20 1 1 6 6 0 0
2018 13 15 2 2 3 3 0 0
2019 7 7 1 1 3 3 1 1
2020 9 9 1 1 6 6 0 0
2021** 2 2 0 0 . . . .
2022* 1 1 0 0 . . . .
Unknown 2011 2 2 0 0 470 532 0 0
2012 4 4 0 0 194 186 0 0
2013 8 12 2 2 20 28 0 0
2014 8 10 0 0 468 450 4 4
2015 10 10 0 0 592 576 0 0
2016 6 10 2 2 582 598 2 2
2017 8 8 4 4 562 638 2 2
2018 2 2 0 0 532 590 2 2
2019 18 32 8 12 400 540 4 4
2020 . . . . 10 88 0 0
2021** . . . . 2 4 0 0
2022* . . . . . . . .
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 Cooperative Patent Classification (CPC). 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.