Large Danish companies such as Vestas and Novo Nordisk are quite diligent in submitting European patent applications. This is shown by new figures from the European Patent Office (EPO).
The two giants are a major contributor to Denmark being at the top of the European list last year when measured by the number of patent applications per million inhabitants.
Last year, a total of 2,622 European patent applications were submitted by Danish applicants. This is 0.6 percent more than the year before and is a new record. This means that Denmark is ahead of countries such as the Netherlands and Germany in the list. Only Switzerland and Sweden sent more European applications per million inhabitants last year.
According to Flemming Kønig Mejl, head of policy, law and international cooperation at the Danish Patent and Trademark Office, patents are important for selling Danish solutions and products on export markets.
- They help protect companies from copying and are of great importance for whether a company's market share increases, he says. So it is gratifying that they have continued to invest in innovation and patents even under the difficult conditions of recent years.
- It just shows that Danish companies are good at prioritizing research and development. It is also part of what we live on in Denmark and which helps create jobs.
Vestas at the top in Denmark
Last year, the wind turbine manufacturer Vestas was the Danish company that submitted the most European patent applications. This was also the case the year before. In total, the company submitted 176 applications last year.
The Danish enzyme producer Novozymes has been number two on that list in recent years, while the pharmaceutical company Novo Nordisk is also at the top.
- The figures confirm once again that energy technology and life science are some of Denmark's strengths and areas where innovation is really driven forward and jobs are created, he says.
- But we can also see a large and interesting growth in patent activity within other areas, such as computer technology.
/ritzau/
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