On 22 October, the European Patent Office (EPO) published a new study, developed in collaboration with ASTP, Europe’s knowledge transfer association, and Fraunhofer ISI, highlighting public research’s strategic importance and Europe’s technology transfer gaps.

Europe’s competitiveness depends not only on research, but on turning scientific discoveries into technologies and products that reach the market. The EPO Observatory study provides the most comprehensive assessment to date of how well-equipped Europe is to facilitate the journey from research to market.

“Technology transfer is a matter of competitiveness. European universities and public research organisations are at the forefront of scientific research, but discoveries must move from the laboratory to the market if they are to generate jobs, growth and strategic autonomy,” said António Campinos, President of the EPO. “This means strengthening technology transfer, improving access to funding and building a more integrated single market for innovation. The study presented today identifies six priorities to help Europe turn research excellence into commercial success.”

 

Technology Transfer Offices (TTOs) in Europe vary considerably in size, maturity and activity

Of the 809 technology transfer offices (TTOs) analysed, 90.5% are small or medium-sized, while only 9.5% are large. These large TTOs have six times as many staff, support institutions with research expenditure 23 times higher and have nearly seven times as many dedicated research staff. They also receive almost 16 times as many invention disclosures as small or medium-sized offices.

Once an invention has been taken on by a small or medium-sized TTO, these offices can help advance it towards a patent, a licence or a start-up, achieving success rates comparable to those of larger TTOs. The difference lies in capacity: larger offices can handle a significantly higher volume of activity per employee, as they can draw on specialised expertise, established procedures and stronger commercial networks.

The study also highlights that local TTOs can strengthen their capabilities by tapping into broader expertise, financial resources and market networks. Greater collaboration between research institutions and companies across European countries could also help promising inventions find the right partners to reach the market.

 

Europe has caught up in university ownership of patents, but a gap remains

Patents filed directly by European universities account for approximately 9% of European patent filings, close to the level seen in the United States. European universities also retain ownership of a much larger share of their own inventions than they did twenty years ago. However, 40.7% of European patents directly owned by European universities lapse within ten years, compared with 26.3% of those owned by US universities. As competition intensifies, particularly in light of China’s renewed focus on commercialising university technologies in its 15th Five-Year Plan, Europe needs stronger support for technology transfer to help research reach the market.

 

Public research is playing an increasingly important role in strategic technologies

European patent applications involving universities, public research organisations or research hospitals have more than doubled over the past two decades, rising from 3,200 applications in 2006 to almost 8,000 in 2025. Germany, France and the United Kingdom are the leading countries, but their combined share has fallen from nearly 64% to around 55%. Rather than indicating a decline in the leading countries, this points to a broadening of Europe’s research base, with particularly strong growth in the Netherlands and Spain and increased activity in many other countries, including Italy.

In 2025, research institutions accounted for approximately 34% of European-origin patent applications relating to biotechnology applications, 29% of applications in quantum technologies and 26% in pharmaceuticals. Their ability to bring inventions to market is therefore of strategic importance. Europe’s leading public research organisations include CNRS (France), Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft (Germany), CEA (France), Inserm (France) and Imec (Belgium).

 

Italy: leading research institutions bridging innovation and patents

Alongside the study, the European Patent Office (EPO) is launching a data platform called the Data Desk Dashboard, dedicated to European public research. It will enable users to analyse patenting activity by country, institution and technology.

Data from the new platform show that the Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche (CNR) ranks first among Italian research institutions in terms of the number of patent applications filed with the EPO, with 34 applications. It is followed by Politecnico di Milano (29 applications) and the Italian Institute of Technology (IIT), with 21 applications. Politecnico di Torino (20) and the University of Milan (17) complete the top five Italian public and research institutions with the highest levels of patenting activity.

Italy’s leading public research institutions, ranked by the number of patent applications, also demonstrate strong specialisation in strategic technology fields. For example, the CNR, Italy’s largest public research organisation, recorded its highest patenting activity in semiconductors, followed by environmental technologies and optics. Politecnico di Milano stood out in medical technology, control systems and biotechnology, while the IIT demonstrated particular strength in medical technology, pharmaceuticals and basic materials chemistry.

At the same time, Politecnico di Torino focused its innovative research on electrical machinery, apparatus and energy, measurement technologies, and basic materials chemistry. Finally, the University of Milan demonstrated a strong patenting profile in biotechnology, basic materials chemistry, and macromolecular chemistry and polymers. Taken together, these data highlight the diversity of Italy’s public research ecosystem.

 

Research spin-offs and patents: new rules open the door to Italian innovation

The EPO’s Deep Tech Finder (DTF) platform has been expanded to include additional data on European public research, helping to facilitate connections between research institutions, industry and investors.

DTF data show that Italy ranks sixth in Europe in terms of the number of academic spin-offs that have filed patent applications with the EPO, with a total of 289 companies. The majority (89.6%) are at the early-growth stage, meaning that they have successfully completed technology validation and feasibility testing and are now focusing on turning laboratory prototypes into market-ready products.

Only 19 Italian spin-offs have reached the scale-up stage, which is characterised by team expansion, entry into larger commercial markets and the raising of venture capital to accelerate business development. No Italian spin-off has yet reached the late-growth stage, at which companies secure large-scale funding rounds, achieve valuations exceeding USD 500 million and establish a significant international presence.

Finally, approximately 3.8% of Italian spin-offs have been acquired by larger companies. These transactions represent important channels for the economic valorisation of research results.