Particularly active fields of technology at the European patent office

Having performed a statistical study of European patent applications filed in 1984, followed by interviews with competent examiners, the authors have highlighted various fields of technology where a great filing activity has occured in the course of the last years: in the medical field, implants, targeting drugs, synthetic vaccines; within the field of biotechnology, genetic engineering and fused cell technology; methods for testing materials and chemical analytic methods applied to the medical field (dosage of antibodies in blood); ceramics; photographic emulsions; anti- blocking braking systems; measuring apparatus; flat cathode-ray tubes; semiconductors; solid-state video cameras; optical fibres; computers: CD-players.