Huawei ranks 2nd in European patent applications in 2024

Shenzhen-based Huawei was the second-largest applicant at the European Patent Office (EPO) in 2024 with 4,322 applications, according to the Patent Index 2024.

Visitors explore the Huawei booth at the 2025 Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, Spain, on March 3. Xinhua

Chinese companies and researchers filed a record 20,081 patent applications at the EOP in 2024, accounting for 10.1% of all applications received by the office and securing China's position as the fourth-largest filer globally.

While Chinese patent applications experienced a 0.5% year-on-year growth rate in 2024, the overall number has more than doubled since 2018 and quadrupled since 2014, the EPO noted in its press release.

Source: EPO.org

According to the report, the presence of Huawei and five other Chinese companies among the top 50 filers demonstrates "China's robust innovation capabilities and active participation in European patent applications."

Mirroring global trends, the top three technical fields for Chinese patent filings in 2024 were digital communication, electrical machinery and apparatus, and computer technology.

The electrical machinery, apparatus, and energy sector was the fastest-growing among Chinese applicants, registering a 32.2% year-on-year increase. This is largely attributable to a surge in patent applications for battery-related technology, which rose 79% from the previous year. Four Chinese companies are now among the top 15 applicants in battery technologies.

Overall, the EPO received 199,264 patent applications from around the world in 2024, with electrical machinery, apparatus, and energy recording the highest growth globally.

Source: EPO.org

The top 10 list includes four companies from Europe, two from South Korea, two from the U.S., and one each from China and Japan. Among them, South Korea-based Samsung topped the list, followed by China-based Huawei, LG from South Korea, Qualcomm from the U.S., and RTX (Raytheon Technologies) from the U.S.

Computer technology, which includes areas of AI such as machine learning and pattern recognition, was the leading field for the first time. Electrical machinery, apparatus, and energy posted the strongest growth last year, driven by advances in clean energy technologies, particularly battery innovation. Meanwhile digital communication, which encompasses inventions related to mobile networks, saw a 6.3% decrease.  

"Despite political and economic uncertainties, companies and inventors from around the world filed a high number of patents last year, underlining their technological prowess and their continued investment in R&D," said EPO President Antonio Campinos. (SD-Xinhua)