- Technology
- News Desk
- Source: European Patent Office https://www.epo.org/en/news-events/press-centre/press-release/2026/1363216
More than 90% of Europe's 809 technology transfer offices are small or mid-scale, according to a European Patent Office study published on 22 October 2026 in Munich, which warns that limited capacity is holding back efforts to turn research into marketable products and companies.
Key facts
What does the study measure?
- The European Patent Office (EPO) study, developed with ASTP and Fraunhofer ISI, analysed 809 European technology transfer offices (TTOs), of which 90.5% were small or mid-scale and 9.5% large-scale.
- Large-scale TTOs have six times more staff, support institutions with 23 times more research expenditure and receive almost 16 times more invention disclosures than small or mid-scale offices.
- European patent applications involving a university, public research organisation or research hospital rose from around 3,200 in 2006 to almost 8,000 in 2025.
- 40.7% of European patents directly owned by European universities lapse within ten years, compared with 26.3% of those owned by US universities.
- CNRS (France), Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft (Germany), CEA (France), Inserm (France) and imec (Belgium) are the leading European public research institutions filing patent applications.
The EPO, the Munich-based agency that grants European patents, said the report is the first Europe-wide benchmark for technology transfer, combining patent evidence with survey data from more than 800 offices. TTOs help researchers identify and protect inventions and connect them with companies, investors and entrepreneurs.
EPO President António Campinos framed the issue as one of economic competitiveness. "Technology transfer is a competitiveness issue. Europe's universities and public research organisations are at the forefront of scientific discovery, but breakthroughs must move from the lab to the market if they are to create jobs, growth and strategic autonomy," he said. Campinos added that the study identifies six priorities to help Europe convert research excellence into market success, including better access to finance and a more integrated single market for innovation. Why does office size matter?
According to the study, the gap is one of capacity rather than capability. Once an invention enters the pipeline, small and mid-scale offices can push it towards a patent, licence or venture at rates comparable to larger offices. But bigger offices can handle far more activity per staff member because they have specialist expertise, established processes and stronger commercial networks.
Most offices are too small to keep every skill in-house. The data support a model in which close contact with researchers stays local, while market knowledge, technology intelligence, training and investor access are shared through regional and European support structures. Is cross-border transfer still limited?
The study highlights a growing pan-European dimension to technology transfer. Research-based technologies are emerging from a wider range of countries, while the companies and investors best placed to develop them may sit elsewhere in Europe. Greater visibility, brokerage and cross-border connections could help promising inventions find the right partners, the EPO said, noting that cross-border technology transfer remains limited in scale. How does Europe compare?
Patents with university involvement account for around 9% of European patents, close to the US level, and European universities now own a much larger share of their inventions than twenty years ago. However, 40.7% of European patents directly owned by European universities lapse within ten years, against 26.3% for US university-owned patents, pointing to difficulties in sustaining and commercialising promising technologies. The EPO also noted intensifying competition, citing China's renewed focus on university technology commercialisation in its 15th Five-Year Plan. Where is public research strongest?
Public research is playing a larger role in strategic fields. Research institutions were applicants on about 34% of European-origin biotechnology applications, 29% in quantum technologies and 26% in pharmaceuticals in 2025. Germany, France and the United Kingdom remain the leading countries, but their combined share fell from nearly 64% to about 55%, which the EPO attributed to a broader research base rather than a decline among the leaders, with particularly strong growth in the Netherlands and Spain.
Alongside the report, the EPO is launching a Data Desk dashboard on European public research, allowing users to explore patenting activity by country, institution and technology. It has also expanded its Deep Tech Finder with additional data on public research organisations. The agency scheduled an online event on the report for 13:00 on the publication day, and the full study is available under the title "Europe's technology transfer landscape: The current state, challenges and avenues for development of technology transfer offices."
Source: European Patent Office
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