PATENTS, 2025

In 2025, the number of patent applications submitted to the State Intellectual Property Office (hereinafter referred to as: SIPO) amounted to 148, of which 145 were filed by resident and three by non-resident applicants. Out of the total applications filed by resident applicants, 58.6% were filed by natural persons, and 41.4% by legal entities. Among non-resident applicants, legal entities had a share of 100%.

The most patent applications related to Mechanical engineering

As regards the fields of technology, the highest share of patent applications in 2025 related to Mechanical engineering (29.0%), followed by Electrical engineering (27.6%), while the lowest number related to Other fields (13.4%).

The International Patent Classification (hereinafter referred to as: IPC) provides the identification of the technology base of patents as well as the sector in which they will probably be applied. According to the IPC codes, the highest share of patent applications in 2025 was recorded in section G Physics (30.4%) and the lowest one in section C Chemistry, metallurgy (4.1%), while there were no patent applications in section D Textiles, paper.

In 2025, the total number of patents granted in the national procedure amounted to nine. Out of that number, there were eight patents filed by resident and one by non-resident applicants. Out of the total number of patents granted in the national procedure, half of them were invented by legal entities and the other half by natural persons. Concerning the non-resident applicants, all patents granted were invented by legal entities, while no patents were invented by natural persons.

The most granted patents related to Chemistry

The highest share of granted patents in 2025 according to the field of technology related to Chemistry (56.5%), followed by Mechanical engineering (17.4%) and Instruments (13.0%).

According to the IPC codes, the highest share of granted patents in 2025 related to section A Human necessities (55.6%). The lowest share related to sections C Chemistry, metallurgy, E Fixed constructions, G Physics and H Electricity (11.1% each), while no patents were granted in other sections.

In 2025, there were 13 694 valid patents in the Republic of Croatia.

Slightly more than a third of patent applications referred to resident applicants from the City of Zagreb, while three quarters of granted patents referred to applicants from the remaining three regions (Pannonian Croatia, Adriatic Croatia and Northern Croatia).

In 2025, out of the total number of patent applications filed by domestic applicants, 36.6% were filed by applicants from the City of Zagreb, with the lowest number of applications from Northern Croatia (15.9%). The share of applicants from Adriatic Croatia (24.1%) and Pannonian Croatia (23.4%) was almost equal.

Concerning granted patents, in 2025, 37.5% of patents were granted to applicants from Adriatic Croatia and the City of Zagreb, and 25.0% of patents were granted to applicants from Northern Croatia.

NOTES ON METHODOLOGY

Data sources

The data are the result of the processing of data taken over from SIPO. It is a state administration body with responsibilities in the field of the protection of intellectual property rights. SIPO carries out procedures for granting industrial property rights (patents, trademarks, industrial designs, geographical indications and designations of origin, topographies of semiconductor products) and performs the accompanying professional and legislative activity.

The data were obtained from SIPO according to a defined set of tables and processed by applying the required methodology.

Objectives of the survey and coverage

The methodological basis for the implementation of the survey is the internationally acknowledged standard, which was set up by the OECD and published in the Patent Statistics Manual.

The patent statistics provide information on the success of the research, development and innovation activity in selected fields of technology. The number of patents is one of the measures of the inventive activity of a country that, in addition, displays the capacity to exploit knowledge and translate it into potential economic gains. The International Patent Classification (IPC) enables the classification of patent applications and granted patents into the selected fields of technology. The patents are classified, according to the technical subject matter of the invention, into respective classes or subclasses. The Classification includes eight fields of technology (marked with letters A to H), broken down into subfields further divided into classes and subclasses.

Data presented in this First Release encompass patent applications submitted to SIPO and patents granted by SIPO in the national procedure.

The data are presented at the level of the Republic of Croatia, while G-3 and G-4 graphs present data for 5-year time series at the HR_NUTS 2021 – HR NUTS 2 level, in accordance with the National Classification of Statistical Regions 2021 (HR_NUTS 2021; NN, No. 125/19).

Definitions and explanations

The definitions covering the patent statistics area are based on the international methodology – the OECD Patent Statistics Manual 2009, issued by OECD, Paris, 2009.

A patent is an exclusive right granted for an invention that offers a new solution to a technical problem. It is granted for inventions related to a product, procedure or application. A patent provides the exclusive right to the owner to make, use, distribute or sell the invention protected by the patent during a limited period of time, but never longer than 20 years from the filing date of the application. On expiration of this time, the patent becomes a public good, available for public use.

The patent does not protect an abstract concept but an actual solution to a technical problem. The basic conditions that any invention must meet for a patent to be granted are that it is new in relation to the existing state of the art, that it involves an inventive step and that it is eligible for industrial application (that is, practical industrial applicability).

Patents are a territorial right, which means that they are valid only in the territory of a country where they were granted. Patents are granted by an authorised body, on the basis of the examination of the patent application that describes the invention. The authorised body in the Republic of Croatia is SIPO.

The patent granting procedure is instituted by filing the patent application and carried out in line with the Patent Act and Patent Regulations. It consists of two main phases, the formal examination of the text of the application prior to its publication in the SIPO official gazette and the examination after the publication. The procedure may result in the grant of a patent for a proposed invention, provided that the prescribed requirements are complied with, or in the refusal of a request for the grant of a patent, if such requirements are not complied with.

The patent applications are for the purpose of this First Release counted in the year when they were submitted to the SIPO, while the granted applications are counted in the year when they were granted by the SIPO.

Consensual patent is a special form of patent protection in the Republic of Croatia. Its main characteristic is that it is granted without a substantive examination of the patent application, that is, on the basis of a public consensus, if no opposition to the grant is filed. The term of a consensual patent is no more than ten years.

Utility model is a form of invention protection that is registered without a substantive examination procedure of the patentability condition. The utility model can only protect products that are not in the field of biotechnology and that are not chemical or pharmaceutical substances. In addition, inventions whose commercial exploitation would be contrary to public policy or morality cannot be protected. Utility model lasts for 10 years, counting from the date of filing the application.

The process of registering a utility model is faster, cheaper and more suitable for simpler inventions and for individuals and small and medium-sized enterprises compared to granting a patent.

The definitions and explanations have been taken over from the website of SIPO www.dziv.hr/en/, where more information is available.

Published by the Croatian Bureau of Statistics, Zagreb, Ilica 3, P. O. B. 80
Phone: (+385 1) 48 06 111
Press corner: press@dzs.hr

Persons responsible:
Milenka Primorac Čačić, Director of Business Statistics Directorate
Lidija Brković, Acting Director General

Prepared by:
Matija Škegro Vdović and Vjera Duić

USERS ARE KINDLY REQUESTED TO STATE THE SOURCE.

Customer Relations and Data Protection Department

Information and user requests
Phone: (+385 1) 48 06 138, 48 06 154, 48 06 115
E-mail: stat.info@dzs.hr

Subscription
Phone: (+385 1) 21 00 455
E-mail: prodaja@dzs.hr