Mobility
Germany Leads World in Automotive Patents
A new study carried out by the German Economic Institute (IW) in Cologne puts Europe’s largest economy ahead of Japan and the United States.
Nov 30, 2023
According to the IW study, 6,661 automotive patents were registered in Germany in 2020. Japan had 4,496 and the US 3,054. That reflects Germany’s tradition as an innovator of automobile technology.
By comparison, the US topped the list in the raw number of patents in general with 44,719. Germany, despite being a much smaller country, was second with 28,646, and Japan had 25,001.
Bosch was responsible for the most German patents, followed by Volkswagen and BMW. In fact, Bosch accounted for almost one-quarter of German patents.
Germany is also responsible for more patent registrations in electric propulsion (29 percent) than any other single country. But German patents still tend to be for conventional vehicles. Other countries such as China have a higher proportion of EV vehicles patents among their automotive innovations.
