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1.2 Patenting in Finland

Patent applications filed

In 2006 the total number of patent applications filed in Finland was 2,018. This was 43 applications down from the year before. The number of foreign applications filed directly with the National Board of Patents and Registration of Finland was 205. Most of these applications came from the United States (52), Germany (40) and Sweden (37). The reason for the drop in the number of patent applications is the increasing changeover to international patenting. In 2006 Finnish applicants filed 1,015 PCT (Patent Cooperation Treaty) applications with the National Board of Patents and Registration of Finland, while the number of PCT applications was 1,056 the year before. Finnish applicants filed 1,678 patent applications with the European Patent Office, of which 424 were direct applications and the rest were PCT applications in the regional stage.

Examined by region, the most domestic patent applications were filed in the Helsinki sub-regional unit. They numbered 630, of which 130 were filed by individual inventors. The next highest numbers of patent applications were filed in the sub-regional units of Tampere (149), Jyväskylä (140) and Oulu (91). Of all the domestic patent applications, 70 were filed by inventors who live abroad or whose address in Finland is unknown

Nearly one-half of the 526 enterprises and associations that applied for a patent in Finland operated in the field of manufacturing. They filed a total of 915 patent applications. The highest numbers of enterprises which filed applications for patents were in the metal and engineering industries. The enterprises numbered 105 and the patent applications 458. The next highest numbers were in other business activities (TOL 74), in which 94 enterprises filed 154 applications. In the electronics industry, 63 enterprises filed a total of 287 patent applications

Patents granted

In 2006 a total of 1,059 patents were granted. The number of patents granted fell by 700 from the year before. Most of the domestic patents (710) were granted to enterprises (649). The share of patents granted to foreign applicants was roughly one-third. The number went down by nearly 300 from the year before. The transition of patenting from applications filed directly with the National Board of Patents and Registration of Finland to patenting under international patent treaties is reflected in the strong growth of the number of European patents which have come into effect in Finland. In 2006 the number of European patents which came into effect in Finland was 6,469. This number was 830 up from the previous year.

The biggest shares of patents granted by the National Board of Patents and Registration of Finland in 2005 were in the sections of electricity and performing operations and transport. Both of these shares amounted to one-fifth of the patents granted. Regionally the most patents were granted into the Helsinki sub-regional unit (37%). The next biggest shares were in Tampere (12%) and Jyväskylä (6%). Compared with the year before, the shares of Helsinki and Jyväskylä remained unchanged. By contrast, the share of Tampere fell by 6 percentage points and that of Oulu by 2 percentage points.

All in all, 261 enterprises or associations were granted a patent in 2006. This is 50 enterprises less than in the year before. The highest number of patents granted was in the metal and engineering industry, where 264 patents were granted to 69 enterprises. The next highest number of patents was in the electronic industry, where 139 patents were granted to 42 enterprises.

Source: Patenting 2006. Statistics Finland

Inquiries: Markku Virtaharju (09) 1734 3290

Director in charge: Kaija Hovi

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Updated 25.10.2007