In 2019,the European Patent Office (EPO) received over 181,000 applications,4%more than in 2018 and a new all-time high.Growth was mainly fuelled by the strong increase in filing volumes from China,the US and South Korea,with patent applications from the EPO countries also growing.Patent applications originating from China at the EPO grew by 29.2 percent in 2019,the highest growth rate among the ten leading patent filing countries,to 12,247 applications,setting a new record high.