Patent Insights from Life Science Barometer 2025
Potter Clarkson recently had the pleasure of being involved in the Life Science Barometer 2025 – Skåne Edition report that has recently been released!
In it, we provided insights on patenting trends of Swedish life sciences companies. We found that Skåne was the top performer for growth in filing patent applications, reflecting the strong performance of the life science sector in the region. In fact, Skåne represented 27% of Swedish life science applications at the European Patent Office (EPO) during 2015-2024, despite only representing 13.5% of the Swedish population.
Perhaps not surprisingly, patent filings in Skåne are driven by the Lund region. During 2015-2024, Lund represented more patent publications at the EPO than Stockholm! Part of this is driven by Lund University, who recently ranked a very impressive 3rd overall in a recent EPO study of European universities by number of startups with academic patent applications filed at the EPO.
In summary, it is encouraging that Sweden is keeping pace with key territories within life sciences at the EPO – this is driven by growth within Skåne and Stockholm in particular.
As part of the report, Tom Harding from Potter Clarkson also answered some interview questions on innovation trends and the challenges facing early-stage companies in Skåne.
In terms of the particular challenges facing micro enterprises, Tom highlights that: “a major challenge is the lack of time and in-house expertise to manage the patent process. At Potter Clarkson, we fill that gap by offering support similar to an in-house advisor – guiding patent strategy in line with the company’s evolving commercial plans. Cost is another key factor; filing and maintaining patents across multiple markets is expensive, so smaller companies must be especially strategic about when and where they file. Securing funding early on is critical to support this.”
Check out the report for more details, available to download here: https://www.mediconvillage.se/downloadable-resources/