Spanish companies and inventors filed 2,255 European patent applications in 2025, according to the European Patent Office’s Technology Dashboard 2025 (formerly Patent Index) published by the European Patent Office (EPO). This figure marks a 2.9% increase from 2024 and represents the highest annual volume of European patent applications from Spain to date. The report highlights how Catalonia reinforces its position as the main innovation engine in Spain by recording 754 European patent applications in 2025, representing 33.4% of the national total.
In total, the EPO received 201,974 European patent applications in 2025, a 1.4% higher than the previous year, surpassing 200,000 applications for the first time and confirming Europe’s competitiveness as a global tech hub. Applications from EPO member states grew, on average, by 0.4%. Spain accounted for 1.1% of the total applications filed with the EPO and ranked 9th by application volume within the European Union, 15th worldwide, and 25th in per-capita application volume.
“This record of patent applications underscores Europe’s innovative capacity and its appeal as a global tech market,” says António Campinos, president of the EPO. “The Technology Dashboard 2025 enables analysis of progress and gaps across different industrial sectors, helping European policymakers identify priority areas and steer investments and actions to strengthen technological sovereignty and competitiveness. While the Unitary Patent is already removing barriers and accelerating the move toward a more integrated European innovation market, it is essential to keep the focus especially on strategic sectors such as artificial intelligence, semiconductors, health, and quantum technologies.”
Sustained growth over the past decade
The uptick noted in 2025 confirms the upward trend in Spanish innovation. The number of Spanish applications filed with the EPO has risen by more than 43% since 2016, placing Spain as the third-fastest growing country in the last decade among the major European patent-filing nations (those with more than 2,000 applications annually).
At the urban level, Barcelona leads the national ranking of innovative cities, with 313 European patent applications in 2025, and it also ranks in the European top 100 (41st). This positioning reinforces the city’s role as an innovation hub in Southern Europe, with an ecosystem that combines talent, investment, and a strong scientific base.
The leadership of Catalonia is closely tied to its robust academic and scientific fabric. Institutions such as the University of Barcelona, which appears among the leading Spanish applicants with 18 European patent applications in 2025, reflect the heft of universities in driving innovation.
In the Spanish context, this evolution reflects the ongoing commitment of Spanish companies, universities, public research centers, and entrepreneurs to protect their inventions in the European market.
The health sector remains at the forefront, while information technology picks up speed
Health-related technologies continue to be the main driver of Spanish European patent applications. In 2025, biotechnology was the technology field with the highest number of applications (181), followed by the pharmaceutical sector (179) and medical technology (167). Collectively, these three areas accounted for almost a quarter (23.4%) of all Spanish applications to the EPO.
Although the pharmaceutical sector posted a decline (-19%) compared with the previous year, biotechnology (+11%) and medical technology (+2.5%) grew, confirming the strength of Spain’s biomedical and health research ecosystem. Globally at the EPO, health-related sectors saw declines, such as pharmaceutical (-6.3%) and biotechnology (-3.3%), though medical technology rose in the last year (+1.3%).
Alongside its traditional health focus, Spanish innovators also increased filings in other technology domains, such as information technology, which grew by 29.8% in 2025. Globally, information technology remained the leading field for patent applications at the EPO in 2025 (+6.1% vs 2024), driven by growth in AI-related technologies (+9.5%) and by the rapid development of the emerging field of quantum technologies (+37.9%). Although the United States accounted for the largest share of filings in information technology, European innovators emerged as leaders in AI and quantum technology subfields.
The transportation sector, which had shown strong growth in earlier years in Spain, registered a 15.4% decline in 2025, though it remains a relevant area within the national innovation ecosystem.
CSIC, Spain’s leading applicant to the EPO
The Spanish National Research Council (CSIC), with 55 European patent applications, again topped the ranking of Spanish applicants to the EPO in 2025. Other leading applicants include Autotech Engineering, Multiverse Computing, Amadeus, and Ficosa Automotive, reflecting the growing weight of industrial and technology companies in protecting inventions internationally.
Universities and public research centers continue to play a key role within the Spanish innovation ecosystem. Along with CSIC, the University of the Basque Country, the University of Barcelona, and the Autonomous University of Barcelona rank among the top ten Spanish applicants, with a combined total of 112 European patent applications in 2025.
Catalonia and the Community of Madrid concentrate more than half of innovation activity
Patent activity in Spain continues to concentrate in the country’s main economic hubs. Catalonia leads the regional ranking with 754 applications in 2025, representing 33.4% of the national total, up 4.1%. It is followed by the Community of Madrid with 484 applications, up a notable 17.2% year over year.
The Basque Country is in third place, with 310 applications, followed by the Valencian Community (152) and Navarra (142). Navarra posted a significant growth (+19.3%), while Murcia recorded the largest increase among the major regions (+39.3%).
The five most dynamic Spanish regions in innovation are also among the 100 leading European regions by number of applications filed with the EPO.
At the city level, Barcelona and Madrid remain among the 100 leading European cities for patent activity, cementing their role as technology hubs in Spain. They are followed by San Sebastián, Zaragoza, and Alcobendas.
Strong uptake of the Unitary Patent by Spanish innovators
The Unitary Patent system, in operation since June 2023, continues to gain momentum among Spanish applicants. In 2025, 580 unitary-effect applications were filed by Spanish holders, representing an adoption rate of 56.1% of the European patents granted to Spanish innovators that year.
This percentage is well above the global average (28.7%) and also exceeds the European Union average (40.7%), demonstrating the strategic use of this system by Spanish companies to simplify and broaden protection for their inventions in the European market, despite Spain not formally participating in the system.
Global innovation trends reinforce Europe’s role in a highly competitive environment
Globally, the United States remains the leading origin country for European patent applications, followed by Germany. For the first time, China surpasses Japan to become the third origin country, followed by South Korea. China’s filings have tripled since 2016, while South Korea’s have doubled, far outpacing the average growth rate of European countries.
EU member states accounted for 43% of total filings in 2025, while 57% came from non-EU countries. Samsung again led as the top patent applicant at the EPO in 2025, followed by Huawei, LG, and Qualcomm. Nokia completes the top five after reporting the largest growth in the last year, with 2,242 filings (+89.4%). The top 10 includes four European firms, two from South Korea, two from the United States, and two from China, reflecting intense global competition in high-tech innovation.
