Denmark among top countries in the world for patent applications

Novozymes, Novo Nordisk and Vestas leading the Danish charge

According to the 2017 annual report published by the European Patent Office (EPO), Denmark ranks third in the world for patent applications per capita. Last year the number of patents submitted in Denmark rose by 13.1 percent.

The report (here in English) showed that there were 377 patent applications per million citizens in Denmark, ranking Danes behind top dogs Switzerland and the Netherlands in second.

“As regards European patent applications filed relative to a country’s population, Switzerland again topped the ranking in 2017, with 884 applications per million inhabitants, followed by the Netherlands (412), Denmark (377), Sweden (374), and Finland (329),” the report stated.

READ MORE: Look who’s top of the tree for research

Novozymes lead the way
The Danes thus surpassed the Swedes, who were ranked third last year.

The three companies responsible for the greatest share of the 2,114 applications lodged last year in Denmark were Novozymes (193 applications), Novo Nordisk (144) and Vestas (82).

The lion’s share of the applications, 65 percent, stemmed from the Capital Region.

The EPO received a record 166,000 patent applications from European countries last year – a 3.9 percent increase from 2016.





  • How internationals can benefit from joining trade unions

    How internationals can benefit from joining trade unions

    Being part of a trade union is a long-established norm for Danes. But many internationals do not join unions – instead enduring workers’ rights violations. Find out how joining a union could benefit you, and how to go about it.

  • Internationals in Denmark rarely join a trade union

    Internationals in Denmark rarely join a trade union

    Internationals are overrepresented in the lowest-paid fields of agriculture, transport, cleaning, hotels and restaurants, and construction – industries that classically lack collective agreements. A new analysis from the Workers’ Union’s Business Council suggests that internationals rarely join trade unions – but if they did, it would generate better industry standards.

  • Novo Nordisk overtakes LEGO as the most desirable future workplace amongst university students

    Novo Nordisk overtakes LEGO as the most desirable future workplace amongst university students

    The numbers are especially striking amongst the 3,477 business and economics students polled, of whom 31 percent elected Novo Nordisk as their favorite, compared with 20 percent last year.