EPFL and ETH among Europe’s top 20 universities for patents filed

Context

TL;DR

• EPFL: 107 patent filings in Europe last year
• ETH Zurich: 101 patent filings and 16th place in Europe
• Switzerland ranks fourth in Europe with 463 spin-offs
• 57,5% of Swiss spin-offs are growing

Key facts

• Data source: European Patent Office (EPO)
• Survey: 2025 data
• Scope: over 800 departments examined
• EPFL: 107 deposits and 12th place in Europe
• ETH Zurich: 101 deposits and 16th European place
• Swiss spin-offs: 463
• Growth phase: 57.5% of Swiss spin-offs
• Towards markets with new requests: 18.1% of Swiss spin-offs

In last year's European ranking, the Federal Polytechnic Institute of Lausanne (EPFL) totaled 107 patent filings and ranked 12th. The Federal Institute of Technology Zurich (ETH Zurich) recorded 101, taking 16th place. The two universities are therefore among the top 20 European universities in terms of number of deposits.

The report is based on 2025 data published by the European Patent Office. In the statement released on Wednesday, the EPO explained that it had examined, for the first time, more than 800 departments belonging to universities and scientific institutes that aim to commercialize the results of their research.

Switzerland's position

The same survey places Switzerland in fourth place in Europe for patent filings from 463 spin-offs. The source defines these entities as entities detached from an institution, dedicated to the development of an innovative product or service. The data broadens the reading beyond the two polytechnics and shows the presence of structures created around research.

57.5% of Swiss spin-offs are still in the growth phase. 18.1% of the total instead concerns those that have already passed this stage and are orienting themselves towards the markets through new requests for financing. The press release presents the two percentages as distinct indicators of the development phase.

According to the EPO, Europe is a place of excellence for cutting-edge research. The ability to transform this innovative force into new technologies and businesses, adds the statement, is of growing importance for the competitiveness of the Old Continent. For Switzerland, the data therefore presents together the position of the polytechnics in the European ranking and the consistency of the spin-offs surveyed.

Operational details

The numerical comparison between the two federal institutes of technology makes it possible to read the ranking without confusing positions and volumes. EPFL has six more patent filings than ETH Zurich: 107 versus 101. The two results are four positions apart: 12th and 16th. The available text does not report the complete ranking, so the comparison remains limited to the data explicitly stated.

The numbers for Swiss universities

Adding the two values for the institutes of technology gives 208 patent filings. The three values reported for the other Swiss institutions, on the other hand, amount to 105 patent applications: 55 plus 27 plus 23. The arithmetic difference is therefore 103 units. The calculation uses only the numbers published for last year; it does not amount to a new ranking, because the source refers to the institutes of technology using the term European-level patent filings and to the other universities using the term patent applications.

The sectors indicated also help distinguish the profiles. At EPFL, most innovations concern medical technology, biotechnology and measuring instruments. For ETH Zurich, the main patent fields are biotechnology, medical technology and information technology. Biotechnology and medical technology therefore appear for both, while measuring instruments are associated with EPFL and information technology with ETH Zurich. The press release does not quantify patent filings by individual sector: the comparison describes the main fields, not their numerical weight. The text does not indicate how many patent filings belong to each category, nor does it relate the sectors to the positions in the ranking. For this reason, the comparison should be read as a map of the stated specializations, not as an internal ranking of the sectors.

Key points

The transition from patents to spin-offs makes it possible to examine research also from an entrepreneurial perspective. The press release records 463 spin-offs in Switzerland: 24 have exceeded the threshold of a valuation of 500 million dollars and have expanded internationally. In addition, 89 of these companies have been acquired by larger companies.

What the data show and what they do not show

The breakdown proposed by the EPO distinguishes young companies still in the growth phase from those that, having passed that stage, set out for markets with new funding requests. The percentages indicated in the source — 57,5% for the first group and 18,1% for the second — therefore describe two different stages. However, the text does not provide a sum of the shares, nor does it clarify whether the classifications are completely separate; therefore, the entire distribution of spin-offs cannot be reconstructed from those values alone.

The scope of the EPO's 2025 data is defined: for the first time, the survey examined more than 800 departments belonging to universities and scientific institutes, focused on bringing the results of their research to market. The available text does not list all 20 European universities or the total number of filings for each. For Switzerland, EPFL and ETH Zurich are highlighted, while the other figures reported concern the patent applications of the Universities of Zurich, Bern and Basel. A complete breakdown by sector and individual spin-off is missing. The picture therefore makes it possible to examine the documented results, but does not authorize predictions about future developments.

Source: rsi.ch