Siemens, Philips, Samsung and BASF lead EU patent race

Siemens tops the European Patent Office’s rankings for 2011, both in terms of applications and patents granted. The German company submitted 2,235 applications to the office last year, and was granted 837 patents. In second place, in terms of patent applications, Siemens is followed by Dutch electronics company Philips (1,759 applications). Korean electronics group Samsung (1,733) and German chemicals company BASF (1,638) follow in third and fourth places.