Statistics on patents: Slightly fewer applications between January and August 2026 than in the previous year

A total of 1,037 national patent applications were filed with the Finnish Patent and Registration Office (PRH) between January and August 2026, which is about 3 per cent less than the previous year.

Between January and June, slightly more applications were filed than in the previous year. Between July and August, however, there were clearly fewer applications filed, which made the total amount from January to August slightly lower than the previous year.

The number of applications tends to vary annually

The long-term statistics do not, however, indicate a decrease in the number of applications. Instead, they reflect annual fluctuations. For instance, 2024 was an exceptionally busy year in terms of patent applications. In 2025, the numbers returned closer to the level seen at the beginning of the decade.

The numbers of patent applications have also varied significantly from year to year in the 2020s. During the entirety of 2022, only 1,447 national patent applications were filed with the PRH, but in 2023, there were 1,745 applications, and in 2024 as many as 1,829 applications. In 2025, 1,665 applications were filed, which is very close to the level in 2020 and 2021.

"The annual number of applications is particularly affected by changes in the patenting strategies of major patent applicants, such as Nokia”, says our Principal Consulting Engineer Olli Sievänen.

The importance of computer technology can be seen in the number of applications

In technical fields, however, clear long-term changes are evident. The number of patent applications in the field of computer technology has increased significantly: in 2025, more than twice the number of applications were filed compared to 2020.

The number of patent applications in digital communication, on the other hand, decreased significantly in 2025 compared to the previous year. However, there has been significant annual variation in the number of applications in this technical field: last year the numbers returned to the level seen in 2021.

The number of patent applications for medical technology has, in turn, remained quite stable at a high level in recent years.

Patents protect technical inventions

Patents can be used to protect novel and inventive technical solutions. A patent gives its holder the right to prevent others from commercially exploiting the patented invention without permission, for instance by manufacturing, selling, or importing the product protected by the patent.
In Finland, you can apply for a national patent at the PRH. The PRH also acts as an authority that examines patent applications under the international PCT system.

Statistics on patents

The PRH website publishes statistics such as national patent applications, patents granted in Finland, validated European patents, domestic applicants with the highest number of patent applications, and the distribution of patent applications across different fields of technology.

See the patent statistics on the prh.fi website.

For further information, please contact
Olli Sievänen
Principal Consulting Engineer
tel. +358 29 509 5438
Email: firstname.lastname@prh.fi