Patent documents are expanding worldwide, and so are they in Espacenet!

MUNICH - In early April 2025, the Espacenet worldwide bibliographic data collection of the European Patent Office (EPO) reached the impressive milestone of 160 million patent documents, about half of these documents being officially recognized as true innovations through patent grants. This reflects the efforts of millions of inventors working to solve technical challenges and advance technology. And all these documents can be searched for free on Espacenet, according to the official website of EPO.

Just about a year ago, we celebrated the collection reaching 150 million documents, highlighting the extraordinary speed at which innovation is being documented and protected around the world. Espacenet is keeping pace with this rapid rise in data and is updated daily with information delivered to the EPO by national and regional offices.

The growth in patent publications has been far from linear. While “only” about 45 million patent documents were published between 1782 and 2000, about 70 million documents have been disclosed just in the last ten years alone. As shown in Fig. 1 below on granted patents at the IP 5 offices, China, represented by the China National Intellectual Property Administration (CNIPA), emerged as the dominant source of patents during this period. 

In terms of technological focus, no single field truly dominates (see Fig. 2), but here are the top three:

· Industrial processes, manufacturing techniques, machinery, and transportation technologies (IPC section B) lead the way, accounting for 21% of all patents in the EPO collection.

· Applied physics technologies, including measurement instruments, computing, optics, telecommunications, and information technology systems (section G), follow closely with 19%.

· In third place, electricity-related innovations (section H) represent 17%, further highlighting the crucial role of energy and communication technologies in shaping our future.

Although not always in the same order, the B-G-H trio is consistently on top across all IP5 offices, as well as in the last ten years, reflecting global technological and economic priorities.

The 160 million documents in the EPO database are far more than just data. They form a living archive of human creativity and serve as a rich resource to inspire new discoveries that will shape the technologies and solutions of the future. Finally, the ever-growing volume of patents underscores the increasing importance of intellectual property as a strategic asset for companies, researchers, and inventors worldwide.