In co-operation with
Patents and the
Fourth Industrial Revolution
The inventions behind digital transformation | December 2017
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Foreword
Dear readers,
A new era of technological development characterised by digital transformation is rapidly
gathering momentum – one which is frequently referred to as the Fourth Industrial Revolution
(4IR), or, in some regions, as Industry 4.0. The consensus on 4IR is still forming but the fact
that it is referred to as a ‘revolution’ implies that its impact is expected to be far-reaching.
Businesses, industry, analysts, policy makers and many others are starting to discuss in greater
detail its characteristics and the challenges and opportunities the revolution presents. As
an organisation at the forefront of technology, the EPO has the tools and skills to support
this dialogue with a clear picture of evolving trends: the EPO is one of the leading suppliers
of patent information, and the solid data that we hold can help us to reliably identify and
follow developments as we head into this period of great change.
Our ESPACENET database, for example, provides free access online to a wealth of more than
100 million patent documents containing data about inventions and technological advances
from around the world. And with PATSTAT, we have put one of the most advanced statistical
tools for analysing technology trends in patents at the disposition of the public. Paired with
the expertise of our patent examiners, these tools are a reliable resource for conducting
meaningful studies on the emergence of technology trends and their development over
time and economic regions.
We have employed our data and skills to produce this publication, the EPO’s frst landscaping
study related to patents and 4IR technologies. The study provides a picture of the dynamics
of 4IR technologies as refected in patent applications and clearly demonstrates that 4IR
innovation is accelerating faster than other felds. It is also becoming more interdisciplinary,
as the changes we are witnessing are driven by connected objects, data and software.
The EPO is alert to the efects of 4IR technologies and their implications for both its own
work and the needs of users of the patent system. For years now, we have been applying
a stable, rigorous and transparent examination practice regarding patents for computer-
implemented inventions. The EPO is therefore well prepared to address the patentability
of 4IR inventions under the applicable European patent law, and to create the necessary
legal certainty for innovating businesses in the sector.
The fndings confrm Europe’s strong position as a hub for the technologies driving this
evolution. Since the mid-1990s, Europe, alongside the USA and Japan, has been one of the
main innovation centres for 4IR technologies, and European inventors were responsible for
almost 30% of all 4IR patent applications fled with the EPO up to 2016. This confrms the
fndings of the wider analysis of the EPO’s annual patent statistics in recent years, namely
that the European economy can rely on a broad and evenly spread technology portfolio to
secure its competitiveness. In relation to 4IR technologies, the study draws an encouraging
picture of Europe’s innovative strength in a game-changing domain.
Beno?t Battistelli,
President, European Patent Office