Patent applications increase 4.7% in the first half of the year due to the upturn in March, just before the entry into force of the New Patent Law

(Data from the SPTO on the first half of the year)

In the period from 2009-2016, the total number of patent applications in Spain has decreased by 23% from 3,712 to 2,849.

According to the data from the SPTO regarding the first half of the year, national patent applications have  now increased by 4.7% compared to the same period last year, following the upward trend that started in 2016.

This increase is due to the record number of patent applications (688) during March, just before the entry into force of the New Patent Law on 1 April.

According to Isern, this rebound in March is an indication of the uncertainty caused by the New Patent Law.

There have been 1,487 patent applications in Spain during the first half of 2017, which is 4.7% higher than during the same months of 2016. This follows the growth trend of the last two years, after a decrease that has ongoing since 2008. These figures are based on the analysis of the data published by the Spanish Patent and Trademark Office (SPTO) up until June.

After analysing the data from January to June, we can see that the number of patents applied for are already rising in February, and the number of patents applied for in March is almost three times higher than in March 2016.

According to Jorge Isern, partner at Isern Patentes y Marcas, “These data clearly reflect the “fear” effect and uncertainty as a result of the entry into force of the New Patent Law on 1 April, which has caused many companies to speed up their projects in order to obtain patents, fearing that they would be denied under the framework of the new Law”.

The New Patent Law, which entered into force after 30 years of the previous Law, harmonised the granting requirements and proceedings with the majority of industrialised countries and is tailored to meet current needs, offers more security and more legal force.

The nine autonomous communities that have grown during these first six months with regards to national patent applications are, in order of growth, the Balearic Islands with an increase of 166%, La Rioja, with a 150% increase, Cantabria, with 61.5% and Navarra with 45.4%. These are followed by Aragón (35%), Castilla-León (21%), Castilla-La Mancha (19.3%), The Canary Islands (8.8%) and Andalucía (0,4%).

Another nine autonomous communities have experienced a decrease in patent applications, among these being the Community of Madrid (with a decrease of 10%), Catalonia (with 26% fewer applications) or Asturias (with a decrease of 40% after a 100% increase last year). These communities represent 50% of the total number of applications until June.

Isern adds that “Nevertheless, this “fear” effect is questionable since the data show that the number of Patents from Spain applied for through the European Patent Convention has increased over the last few years and they exceed the number of Spanish Patent applications before the Spanish Patent and Trademark Office”.

Table of the number of patents applied for each month. First semester 2012 to 2017:

Table of the number of patents applied for by Autonomous Community, from January to June 2013 to 2017:

Isern concludes that “companies are already recovering, in the office we have observed an increased interest in patenting innovations arising from these Spanish companies, but there is also growing interest in having technology information for their sector on an ongoing basis when evaluating and starting new projects, and even more so now with the New Patent Law, which unifies the patent granting system with prior novelty and inventive step examination. A parallel increase has also be noted in the number of legal disputes due to patent infringements.”