Patent filings at the Europe Patent Office (EPO) reached all-time high with 266,000 filings in 2013, according to its recent report. The office granted 66,700 patents, the highest number ever, which is 1.6% more than the number in 2012.

"Demand for patent protection in Europe is up for the fourth consecutive year," said EPO President Benoît Battistelli. "This is proof that companies from around the world continue to see Europe more and more as a premier hub for innovation. The strong position of European companies in patent-intense technologies also underlines the central role these industry sectors play in generating employment and growth in the EU economy."

China deposited 8% of all filings, following the US, Japan and Germany, ranked the fourth among all EPO member states.

Samsung was the top applicant with 2, 833 filings. Five of the top 10 were European companies, including Siemens (2nd), Philips (3rd), BASF (5th), Robert Bosch (6th) and Ericsson (10th). Huawei, a Chinese multinational telecommunications company, submitted 1,077 filings.

"Huawei is one of the top patent owners in the world,” said Cindy Bian, patent counsel for the intellectual property rights department at Huawei. “We held over 36,500 granted patents by the end of 2013. Our role as a top applicant in Europe highlights our focus on innovation, as well as our commitment to the European business environment.”