Earlier this year, the European Patent Office (EPO) released the Patent Index 2024 , offering a detailed overview of the latest trends and statistics in patent filings. This annual report highlights significant development in various technological fields and provides insights into the evolving landscape of innovation.
For the second consecutive year, the field of electrical machinery, apparatus and energy has seen the most substantial increase in patent filings, with an impressive growth rate of 8.9%. Much of the growth in this field was driven by the rise in inventions in areas of batteries and smart grid technologies. As a result of this growth, only the field of computer technology saw more European Patent applications (16,815) filed in 2024 than electrical machinery, apparatus and energy (16,142). This trend underscores the ongoing progress and investment in energy-related technologies, reflecting the global push towards more sustainable and efficient energy solutions.
Among the EPO member states, the United Kingdom has emerged as a significant contributor to this field of technology, ranking amongst the top growers with a notable increase of 14.9% in patent filings.
In addition to the patent filing trends, the report also touches upon the dynamics of the “Green Transition”. The Green Transition refers to the shift towards sustainable and environmentally friendly technologies and practices, which is becoming increasingly important in today’s world. A LinkedIn article published in September 2024 explored the supply and demand for green skills in the job market as part of this green transition. The article first defined green skills as skills that contribute to the green transition, promoting sustainability and environmental protection. It then defined the demand as the number of job postings requiring at least one green skill and the supply as the number of LinkedIn members with at least one green skill.
The study revealed a significant 46% increase in the demand for green talent in the UK between 2023 and 2024. However, the UK is lagging behind when it comes to the supply of green talent, representing the second biggest gap in green talent demand vs. supply growth between 2023 and 2024. This gap indicates a clear need for professionals equipped with green skills to support the green transition.
It is interesting to see how the rise in innovation of green tech in the UK (measured by the increase in patent applications in this field) may align with the growing demand for green skills. However, despite being one of the leading contributors of green technologies, the UK is falling behind in the workforce with the skills to utilise these green technologies.
There is no single solution to address the UK’s supply and demand gap in green skills. However, green tech start ups entering the market may provide a promising start point for creating job opportunities that include training in green skills. While starting a green tech company can be challenging, there are numerous options available for sourcing innovation funding and protecting early innovations. For more information, check out our article on “R&D funding and the Patent Box for green tech start ups” as part of our mini series exploring the Green Tech Intellectual Property 101 guide.
Meet our energy and green technologies team.
