Industry and science in Germany have increased research and development in artificial intelligence, but are far behind the USA. This emerges from an analysis published on Monday by the German Patent and Trademark Office (DPMA). Accordingly, the number of published AI-related patent applications at the German and European Patent Offices was 40 percent higher last year than in 2019, as the Munich federal authority announced on Monday.
Companies and research institutions from the USA dominated, having registered almost a third of the new developments in AI-related technologies. Germany followed in second place with a share of 17.1 percent, ahead of Japan with 12.4 percent. Ranks 4 and 5 were occupied by China (10.1 percent) and South Korea (4.7 percent). The number of Chinese developments rose the fastest, which was already 15 percent higher in 2023 than in 2022. German registrations increased by 5.2 percent in the same period.
“The strong and broad innovation dynamic makes it clear that AI will play a major role in many areas of life in the future,” said DPMA President Eva Schewior. AI analysis is the topic of the annual DPMA user forum this Tuesday and Wednesday.
Since companies primarily register patents for new inventions in their home countries, domestic companies are usually in first place in German patent statistics.
This is different when it comes to AI-related technology fields: Bosch, a German company, took first place, but the other places were followed by the Chinese Huawei group, the US companies Google and Microsoft and Samsung from South Korea.
No separate patent class for AI yet
Measured by the number of patent applications, German companies have a comparatively good position in their home market, said Schewior and combined this with an appeal to business and science: “In view of the immense dynamics in other parts of the world, we should also continue to do everything we can to ensure that we do this “The central technology of the future is one of the most innovative countries.”
Patents are registered according to an internationally uniform patent classification standard. Since there are no separate patent classes for AI, the DPMA experts evaluated the classes from the technology fields in which AI is used.
These include, for example, computer, medical and vehicle technology, robotics as well as speech and image analysis. The evaluation included patent applications with effect for Germany that were filed with the German or the European Patent Office, which is also located in Munich, and duplicate applications with both authorities were excluded.
The authority emphasized that this methodology is an approximation but shows the various trends well. According to the DPMA, the analysis does not claim to be complete for all AI-related inventions; inventions not related to AI could also be included. Since patent applications are only published after a period of 18 months, the statistics do not yet include any inventions from the past year.