European scientific excellence is real, but it struggles to translate into products and businesses.
That is the finding of the European Patent Office (EPO), which publishes what it presents as the continent’s first reference study on technology transfer. It cross-references patent data and surveys more than 800 technology transfer offices (TTOs) that help researchers protect their inventions and connect them with companies, entrepreneurs, and investors.
In this arena, France stands out.
According to the Deep Tech Finder tool, the country counts 633 spin-offs derived from research, a total that places it second in Europe, behind only the United Kingdom.
L’EPO details the development stage of these companies:
- Seed: 408 companies, or 64.5%, moving from a laboratory prototype to a marketable product and seeking their first round of funding.
- Acceleration: 142 companies (22.4%), which are expanding their teams.
- Advanced maturity: 26 companies (4.1%), having completed major funding rounds or posting valuations above $500 million.
- Acquisition: 57 companies (9%), acquired by large groups.
Thus, nearly two-thirds of these spin-offs are still to cross the most delicate hurdle.
CNRS at the forefront of patent filings
The new Data Desk dashboard focused on European public research also highlights a solid patent base.
In 2025, CNRS is the leading European public body with 729 patent applications, particularly in pharmaceuticals, biotechnology, and measurement technologies.
Germany’s Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft ranks second. The CEA comes in third with 528 filings, with activity focused on semiconductors and low-carbon energy. Inserm follows in fourth place with 432 filings, in life sciences.
Two universities also feature: Université Paris Cité (9th) and Sorbonne Université (11th).
This ranking measures the volume of filings, not their eventual commercial success.
It highlights a sharp rise in European patent filings, climbing from around 3,200 in 2006 to nearly 8,000 in 2025.
Germany, France, and the United Kingdom remain at the top, but their combined share has fallen from about 64% to 55%. The EPO interprets this not as a decline in activity but as the broadening of Europe’s research base, with notable growth in the Netherlands and Spain.
In 2025, public research accounts for roughly 34% of European patent filings in biotechnology, 29% in quantum technologies, and 26% in pharmaceutical products.
What is the profile of technology transfer offices (TTOs)? About 90.5% are small or medium-sized, and 9.5% are large. The latter employ six times more staff, assist institutions whose R&D spending is 23 times higher, and count nearly seven times as many researchers. They also receive around 16 times more invention disclosures.
A persistent gap with the United States
The assessment is nuanced. Once the invention enters the transfer circuit, small and medium TTOs achieve results comparable to those of their large counterparts.
The difference lies in capacity. Large offices handle significantly more cases per employee thanks to their specialised expertise, tested processes, and stronger commercial networks.
In terms of patents, Europe has closed the gap. Patents involving universities account for about 9% of European patents, a level close to that seen in the United States. And universities themselves hold a much larger share of their inventions than two decades ago.
The gap then widens. Ten years on, 40.7% of patents held directly by European universities are no longer active, compared with 26.3% on the American side. The EPO interprets this as evidence of difficulties in sustaining and commercializing promising technologies, at a moment when China is prioritizing the commercialization of university research in its 15th Five-Year Plan.
