Time technology: Germany catches up with digital patents a bit

The German economy has reduced its deficit in digital technology at least in the patent applications. Last year, the number of published domestic patent applications in digital key technologies increased by 6.6 percent to a total of 4,494, as the German Patent and Trademark Office in Munich announced.

The published patent applications from the USA (-5.3 percent) and China (-11.4 percent) decreased strongly at the same time. Overall, the German economy still landed in fifth place. Despite the decline, 14,973 patent applications in digital technologies were released from the United States alone, 8,900 from China. In addition, Japan and South Korea were also over 5,000 in front of Germany. The numbers include both registration with the German and the European Patent Office, which is also based in Munich. Samsung from South Korea and the Chinese Huawei Group are strongly represented as sole proprietors to the patent applications.

Patentamts President: Start catching up

“In recent years, Germany has decreased significantly in digital key technologies compared to the most innovative countries,” said DPMA President Eva Schewior. “The positive trend in the patent applications must now be the start of a catch -up.” The patent’s specialists evaluated five technology fields for their analysis: audiovisual technology, digital communication including mobile communications, computer technology, data processing for business purposes and semiconductors.

In the five-year consideration, however, the proportion of German companies in the published digital technology patent applications decreased from 9.8 to 9.2 percent. In 2020, Germany was still in fourth in front of South Korea. The numbers are never entirely up to date, since according to the regulations of the patent offices, registrations are published 18 months after submission. Official chief Schewior wants to present the figures this Tuesday at the annual DPMA user forum.