“We would like to inform you that the European Patent Office has released a new study today on innovative water-related technologies, titled ‘Innovation in water-related technologies’.
Some of the key findings of the study include:
- Europe leads global innovation in water-related technologies with 40% of all international patent families (IPF) and demonstrates high specialization in this technological field.
- The leading countries in Europe are Germany, France, the United Kingdom, as well as the Netherlands, Italy, Switzerland, Sweden, Spain, Austria, and Finland
- The number of recently published IPF annually has increased from around 300 in the early 1990s to over 1200 IPF in the 2020s, due to evolving regulatory frameworks and climate challenges. However, innovation in water-related technology must accelerate even more rapidly in the coming decades.
- The contributions of universities and public research organizations to water-related technologies have significantly increased, from less than 5% of all IPF in the 1990s to 14% by 2017-2021, with the most significant academic contributions in the field of drinking water collection.
