Patent applicants and applications; industry (SBI 2008) applicant, 2009-2010

This table contains data on the number of patent applicants and applications from the Netherlands to the European Patent Office (EPO) and at NL Patent Centre, a division of Agency NL (NLOC). Patents may be granted to companies, universities, institutions or individuals as long as the invention meets the conditions for patentability. To qualify for a patent, an invention must be new, inventive and receptive to industrial application. Whether an invention meets these criteria is assessed by a patent office such as the EPO or the NLOC. The patent office will eventually grant or reject the application. The data on patent applicants and applications are broken down in this table by the industry/sector in which the applicant company operates. For the classification by industry, the Standard Business Classification 2008 (SBI 2008) is used. The figures indicate which industries in Dutch society are (most) innovative. This table has been discontinued. Data available from 2009 to 2010. Status of the figures: The data for 2009 are final. The 2010 data is provisional. As this table has been discontinued, the data will no longer be definitive. Changes as of 30 October 2015: None, this table has been discontinued. When are new figures coming? No longer applicable.