According to European intellectual property (IP) firm Withers & Rogers (www.withersrogers.com), UK companies have maintained their share of total European patent applications, despite an overall increase in the total number of filings made to the European Patent Office (EPO).

The overall number of applications for UK patents in 2016 rose by 1.8%, to 5,142, building on the strong growth in activity experienced in 2015 (when the number of applications rose by 5.7%).

The total number of patent fillings to the EPO grew by 6.2% in 2016. With 372 applications, Rolls-Royce was the UK’s most active patent applicant at the EPO, followed by Unilever (237), British Telecom (177), and BAE Systems (149).

Oxford University was the highest-ranked UK academic institution, climbing from 15th place in 2015 to 12th, with 57 patent applications.