A slump in patents in Poland. Should we worry? "Innovation is not measured by the number of patents, but by their use in the economy" (INTERVIEW)

Ewa Skrzydło-Tefelska, the president of the Polish Patent Office (UPRP), emphasizes that innovation is not defined by the number of patents, but by their economic impact. Yet Poland lags in this area. “To date, no more than a dozen percent of Polish patents have been commercialized,” she notes.

What does the decline mean?

Interview with Katarzyna Mokrzycka, XYZ

XYZ: For two decades, Poland has invested EU funds to boost its innovation capacity. Billions of euros - over PLN 50 billion (EUR 10.5bn) - have been spent on research and development. Yet last year’s report from the Polish Patent Office reveals a one-seventh drop in patent applications. Curiously, the pandemic years saw more filings. What explains this slump?

Ewa Skrzydło-Tefelska, President of the Polish Patent Office: To understand the drop, we need to examine which sectors have historically patented most. Yes, applications in Poland have fallen slightly in recent years. Globally, however, the activity of Polish entities has remained stable since at least 2019, suggesting that more inventors are seeking protection abroad.

It is still too early to declare a long-term trend in domestic filings, though we are monitoring the data closely.”

Few inventions or just fewer patents?

A recent conversation with the rector of Lublin University of Technology suggested that Polish businesses are patenting less than universities. Should this raise alarms?

Data from 2024 shows universities led in patent filings, accounting for 42.4% of all applications, followed by the business sector at 36.7%, with individuals, research institutes, and units of the Polish Academy of Sciences making up the remainder. Universities also secured 41.6% of patents granted, while businesses obtained 40.3%.

Some companies, however, choose not to patent inventions, instead relying on trade secrets—though the scale of this practice in Poland is unknown.

The trend may indicate that businesses are not producing fewer innovations, but are less inclined to patent them domestically. Polish firms can also file at the European Patent Office (EPO). Last year, the EPO granted around 250 patents to Polish entities.

Poland ranked 26th globally in patent filings and 12th among EU countries, with 692 applications at the EPO in 2024—a 3.4% increase over 2023, but slower than the 10% growth seen the year before. Among academic institutions, Poland ranks 14th, accounting for 1.25% of Europe’s 1,345 university patents.

Patent filings from China in the EU quadruple over a decade

Alongside Germans, Americans, Japanese, and Chinese are now among the top filers at the European Patent Office, since not only citizens of countries that are signatories to the European Patent Convention can submit applications—anyone can. [The EPO covers more than just EU countries.] This does not mean that patents are automatically granted, but applicants are testing a wide range of fields.

Last year, the European Patent Office granted around 250 patents to entities from Poland.

Is this a new phenomenon, or an old one that Europe has simply underestimated? Do Chinese companies also seek patent protection in Poland? And if so, how many?

Chinese applicants have been among the top patent filers in Europe for at least a decade. The number of filings from China, however, has been steadily rising—quadrupling since 2015—while filings from other leading countries, such as the US, Germany, and Japan, have remained roughly stable over the same period.

In Poland, Chinese filings are not yet highly visible, though their numbers are growing. Most are validations of European patents, with Chinese entities occasionally submitting individual invention applications directly to the office.

Patent leaders

Which sectors in Poland file the most patents? Are there any trends indicating where the modern Polish economy could develop greater specialization?

Most filings in Poland are in civil engineering, which was also the sector receiving the most patents in 2024 - 144 patents were granted to domestic entities. This is by far the leader. Next come specialized machinery and measurement technologies.

In fourth place, both in terms of filings and grants, are medical technologies. Following that are organic chemistry and biotechnology - fields that are also at the forefront of modern innovation. It is fair to say that Polish inventors are active in areas that are highly innovative on a global scale.

The rebound under scrutiny

With just a month left in the year, do your data indicate that 2025 will bring a rebound in Poland?

This year is slightly better, but it is not yet a strongly upward trend.

By the end of the third quarter of 2025, invention filings were up 0.7% year-on-year, and utility model filings rose by 0.6%. Considering that filings typically increase toward the end of the year, there is reason for cautious optimism.

But patent activity is only one measure of economic innovation. Innovations at the company or national level often cannot be patented, yet they still represent significant improvements in products or technologies.

What, then, would you say has caused the recent decline in patent numbers?

Frankly, we at the patent office have been pondering the reasons as well, and there is no simple explanation. I do not have a clear answer. To our surprise, for example, the highest number of invention filings occurred during the pandemic. Perhaps inventors’ time is now occupied by other activities, which they had in abundance during lockdowns. It could also be that university activity and that of their staff rises cyclically - more intensely during periods when universities undergo evaluations. Or, as I mentioned, some innovations simply do not meet the criteria for a patentable invention.

It’s commercialization that Matters, not the patent itself

Let’s look at it differently: the number of patents is falling, yet the world keeps moving forward. Should patents even be considered when measuring innovation? Perhaps today we need a different yardstick.

Patent activity alone does not reflect the level of economic innovation. The true measure of an economy’s innovativeness is not how many patents are granted, but how many are actually used by companies or other entities. Patent statistics, therefore, do not fully capture the effectiveness of investment in innovation.

The value of a patent must be assessed by how many have been commercialized. Only commercialization translates into profits from innovation. Companies that use unique, protected solutions are more competitive and achieve higher returns.

So, does anyone measure how many patents actually reach the market?

We plan to count precisely how many patents have been applied in the economy. So far, we know that no more than a dozen percent of all Polish patents have been commercialized.

Together with the Higher Education Council, we are taking steps to ensure that more inventions from universities and research institutions are offered to businesses. For this to matter to inventors and innovators in academia, patents must carry greater weight in university evaluations. At present, the patent office is heavily engaged in discussions with the Ministry of Science to integrate patents into the periodic assessment of universities and their staff.

Evaluating universities should include patent profits

Importantly, it’s not just about awarding universities more points for having more patents. Above all, we want the emphasis to be on the profits generated from the commercial use of a given patent. I genuinely believe this will result in a higher number of real - domestic - innovations in the economy, particularly in the sectors and industries that are crucial for the country and should be at the cutting edge.

From what you’re saying, it seems the patent office has started acting as a market facilitator, not just an administrative body.

The core of our work remains granting exclusive rights and protecting them. But today, we are also deeply involved in raising awareness about the importance of intellectual property rights. We aim to make lectures on industrial property mandatory across all universities - not just in law faculties, but also where future technical specialists are trained. Tomorrow’s inventors should know what to do with their inventions and how to protect them.

We are also heavily involved in the commercialization process. We connect businesses with inventors, conduct trainings and workshops, and organize competitions for the best inventions - open to university staff, business professionals, and private individuals.

As the patent office, we are actively engaged with the Ministry of Science to integrate patents into the periodic evaluation of universities and their staff.

Again, the goal is not merely to give universities more points for more patents, but to ensure that the focus is on the profits generated from the commercial application of those patents.

Intellectual Property increases a company’s value

A key priority for us is unlocking new sources of funding for Polish small and medium-sized enterprises based on their intangible assets. This would encourage smaller firms to adopt new patented solutions more frequently. IP-backed financing is still virtually unknown in Poland’s financial sector. We are working to persuade financial institutions - especially banks - that a company’s rights to intangible assets can serve as collateral for loans to growing SMEs. This includes industrial property rights for inventions or technological innovations that form the basis of a company’s business expansion.

This is the latest trend in Europe, promoted by the European Commission. In Poland, however, it is a slow and challenging process, as banks are unfamiliar with the model and do not fully understand the value of patent rights. They fear that loans may not be repaid - for example, if production based on a given invention fails. We recently organized the first roundtable with entrepreneurs, scientists, and bankers to demonstrate the benefits of this approach to SME financing.

IP-backed financing remains largely uncharted territory in Poland. Our goal is to show that a company’s industrial property rights - its patents or technological innovations - can legitimately back loans and help drive business growth.

A challenge for banks – patents as collateral instead of factories

This will not be a process completed in a month. It requires an evolution in how the credit market is viewed. Banks already understand that lending is profitable. What we are trying to show them is that those banks that are first to embrace the challenge - by offering loans secured by industrial property rights i will gain a competitive edge.

Do you see any banks moving in that direction yet?

Not yet. For now, banks are only becoming aware of this emerging market need. They are rather surprised by the concept. They are not saying it’s impossible, but they emphasize that additional safeguards would be needed - state guarantees or similar instruments, for example.

Of course, everyone in every sector would like government guarantees, but that would be introducing yet another channel of state intervention into the economy.

I agree, which is why we are trying to persuade bankers to make it work without state involvement. Alternative financial mechanisms could be used - for example, bonds that provide additional security.

Research and reports presented this year by the World Intellectual Property Organization show that entrepreneurs invest three times faster in intangible assets than in tangible assets. In other words, a company’s value is increasingly determined by its ownership of intangible assets - such as patents, industrial and utility designs, and trademarks - rather than machines, equipment, or buildings. This is a trend banks need to recognize.

I am convinced it is only a matter of time before the value of intangible asset-based rights will play a much larger role in determining the overall value of a company. When companies prefer to take loans to implement technology rather than to acquire real estate or equipment, banks will need to have appropriate offerings ready for them.

Research from the World Intellectual Property Organization confirms that entrepreneurs invest three times faster in intangible assets than in tangible ones. This means a company’s value is increasingly shaped by patents, industrial and utility designs, and trademarks rather than by machines, equipment, or buildings.

The century’s secret: What is holding back Polish innovation

Polish government agencies distribute enormous funds from a wide range of European programs aimed at boosting innovation. There is also still money from the Recovery and Resilience Plan (KPO). Will these resources finally deliver a historic leap? In your view, what is blocking innovation in Poland?

Public debate points to many reasons why the Polish economy is less innovative than expected. One key factor is the weak alignment between business needs and the offerings of inventors. As I mentioned, a large number of inventions in Poland come from universities and research institutes. Yet they commercialize them insufficiently. Why? Because inventions from universities are rarely developed in response to specific business needs. Innovations from internal R&D departments in companies are much more closely aligned with their own needs, since employees themselves define them.

Inventions from universities are too rarely developed in response to concrete business demands.

Low public awareness of the importance of university-driven innovation and insufficient funding for implementing inventions are also major obstacles.

Why is that, given that Poland has been practicing a free market for 30 years? Everything has changed, yet university-business collaboration has barely budged.

Our diagnosis: technology transfer centers at universities are still not active enough. The patent office has become very involved in reforming the way these centers operate, to ensure they take business needs into account. There are a few outstanding examples - such as at Jagiellonian University or Lublin University of Technology - where these centers function excellently, but these remain isolated cases.

A wake-up call for technology transfer centers

The goal of every technology transfer center should be to promote university innovations and bring them to market as quickly as possible.

You can’t simply walk in and say: “Start working differently from today, do it better, the way we say.” How do you plan to reform them?

That is the responsibility of university leadership - we can offer guidance on how to leverage patents and advice on collaborating with businesses.

The most important step is to hire people in these centers who are prepared to act as intermediaries between academia and industry. They must be dynamic individuals who understand the processes shaping the economy. Their role is not just to wait for an invention to land on their desk, but also to inspire researchers to pursue studies in areas of interest to business.

We meet with rectors, university authorities, and staff at technology transfer centers, offering suggestions and highlighting what could matter to the market based on the patent applications we receive. Each center operates differently, and everything depends on the people managing them. They must really understand the need to coordinate researchers’ work with business demands.

In some centers, cooperation is fully developed; in others, more effort is needed. I am confident that our concerted efforts to connect business with academia will finally bear fruit.

The purpose of every technology transfer center should be the promotion of university solutions and their rapid commercialization. They must - again, must - grasp the importance of coordinating the work of researchers with the needs of entrepreneurs.

Towards shorter procedures

The patent office handles not only patent applications, but also utility models, industrial designs, and geographical indications. Could securing intellectual property through these paths be more efficient and appealing for individuals and smaller companies? After all, they are less costly, less time-consuming, and simpler than patents.

Utility models - often called “small inventions” - offer protection comparable in duration to patents and provide a way to safeguard minor technical solutions. Any industrial property rights held by a company, including utility models, can increase its value. Yet businesses have tended to avoid this route because the granting process was lengthy.

We want to change that and are working to encourage more companies to pursue this path. We are trying to shorten and simplify the process for obtaining utility model protection by moving from an examination-based system to a registration-based one. Under this system, rights would be less rigorously examined, speeding up the entire process.

This approach is included in the draft of the new Industrial Property Law. As for industrial designs, Poland continues to perform very well. We rank sixth among EU countries in the number of new design filings. In this year’s EPO competition for the best industrial design in Europe, a Polish company won top honors for the most beautiful kitchen hood. Poland’s tradition of industrial design is clearly paying off.

Key Takeaways

1. Decline in patent filings in Poland in 2024: The number of patents granted domestically fell, but Polish businesses increasingly seek protection at the EU level or safeguard inventions as trade secrets. Universities lead in the number of patents obtained in Poland, with the private sector following.
2. Key issue: Dramatically low commercialization. The head of the Polish Patent Office (UPRP) announced the country’s first study on patent implementation. UPRP is pressing the Ministry of Science to ensure university evaluations reward not just the number of patents, but, above all, the profits generated from their commercial use.
3. Patent Office extends beyond administrative role. UPRP is promoting a new source of business financing through banks—so-called IP-backed financing, where loans are secured by patents and other intangible assets. The office aims to reform the registration process for utility models to make it faster and simpler. It is also acting as a bridge between universities and businesses, seeking to translate inventions into tangible economic growth.