Quantum leaps: what patents signal about Europe’s race to lead the quantum revolution
European Patent Office
As the patent office for Europe, we support innovation, competitiveness and economic growth across Europe.
Welcome to May’s edition of The Tech Fingerprint, your monthly briefing on the latest trends in technology, patenting and innovation.
With the Quantum Strategy launched in 2025 and Quantum Act due to be adopted this year, the EU is looking to become a global leader in quantum technologies.
In this edition, we take stock of where Europe’s quantum industry stands today, unpacking:
A mix of bright spots and bottlenecks
Quantum technologies use the physics of particles at the smallest scales to process information faster than ever before, take measurements with groundbreaking precision, and achieve new standards of secure communication.
Potential applications are wide-ranging, from accelerated drug discovery and enhanced medical imaging, to more advanced materials, better batteries and ultra-secure data transmission. The pace of innovation is far above average: according to the latest EPO Technology Dashboard, quantum computing patent applications at the EPO rose by 37.9% in 2025.
Where does Europe stand?
In patenting, Europe holds its own globally, accounting for 25% of quantum filings in the period from 2020 to 2024 – not far behind the US at 31%.
But the gap widens sharply when it comes to startup funding and scale: the US captures roughly 60% of global quantum startup investment, and the top quantum patentees are predominantly large US companies. In other words, Europe’s patents are not yet translating into market power.
The same asymmetry extends to talent. Nearly half of the inventors named on US-owned quantum patents are based in Europe – 1 011 European inventors contributed to these patents between 2005 and 2024, compared to 682 US-based inventors listed on quantum patents with European owners. Europe is clearly producing world-class quantum talent, but this talent often ends up innovating elsewhere.
Core strength
Another striking dynamic: 39% of Europe's quantum companies are "core" firms and startups – those focused exclusively on quantum technologies. These companies are closely tied to some of the field’s top universities and research institutions.
In the US, by contrast, only 22% of American companies operating in quantum are “core” firms. Instead, large players like IBM, Google and Microsoft dominate the ecosystem.
The challenge for Europe is whether its specialised players can compete at scale.
👉 Last December, we joined forces with the OECD - OCDE to publish a study on the global quantum ecosystem and host a discussion on Europe’s future in quantum technologies.
🎥 Watch what the experts had to say ⤵
Quantum computing: an open race
Some of the field’s most significant developments are happening in computing: quantum computing filings at the EPO increased 130% over the past five years, with European applicants accounting for 44.1% of all QC filings in 2025.
Quantum computers promise to tackle certain classes of problems far beyond the reach of classical machines. The technology has the potential to revolutionise healthcare, improve climate modelling, and optimise complex systems like energy grids.
Yet quantum computing is held back by a central engineering challenge: translating abstract quantum concepts into functioning hardware. Qubits, the quantum equivalent of bits, are fragile and hard to scale. There are already various approaches to resolving this dilemma, but it remains to be seen which will be adopted by industry:
⚡ Superconducting circuits: Electrical circuits cooled to near absolute zero, where quantum effects emerge. Currently the most advanced approach, used by IBM and Google .
⚛️ Trapped ion and neutral atom systems: Individual atoms suspended and manipulated using lasers. Highly precise, challenging to scale.
🌀 Spin-based qubits: Quantum information encoded in the spin of individual electrons. Promising synergies with existing chip manufacturing methods.
Recommended by LinkedIn
💡 Photonic (quantum optics) systems: Particles of light (photons) are used to carry and process quantum information. Suited to quantum communication.
The result is an open race. As patenting spans all approaches and there is currently no clear leader or common standard, governments, investors and companies are backing multiple paths in anticipation of a breakthrough – from one, or a hybrid, of these platforms. That makes quantum computing one of the most watched technology races today!
👉 Curious to learn more? Explore studies, startup stories, patent insights and data-driven analysis on the fast-moving world of quantum technologies.
Two paths, one goal: Pasqal and C12
Some of the many approaches to physical realisation are well illustrated by two of Europe's most prominent quantum startups – Pasqal and C12 , both based in Paris:
Pasqal was founded in 2019 as a spin-off from the Institut d'Optique, by Nobel laureate Alain Aspect and colleagues. The company uses neutral atoms – trapped and manipulated with laser light – as qubits and has grown into a European "soonicorn" with 300 employees, €140 million raised, and partnerships with IBM , NVIDIA and Microsoft . In 2025, it ranked ninth among the EPO's top quantum patent applicants globally.
C12 was founded in 2020 as an Ecole normale supérieure spin-off, by twin brothers Matthieu and Pierre Desjardins. Its qubits are built using carbon nanotubes – a lab-born approach that the brothers recognised had commercial potential. C12 is growing fast, with 60 employees, €30 million raised, and backers such as Airbus Ventures and the EIC - European Innovation Council . In April 2026, C12 unveiled its multi-generation roadmap for achieving fault-tolerant quantum computing by 2033.
IP as a foundation
Both companies treat patents as foundational assets. Pasqal secured early IP protection – central to building investor confidence across funding rounds – and has adopted Unitary Patent protection for recent grants. C12 took a "patent-first, publish-second" approach, filing across Europe, the US and Asia, before sharing any scientific results publicly.
👉 Read the full EPO case studies on these two startups and explore more than 150 European quantum ventures using our free Deep Tech Finder.
The Quantum Act
As we've seen, Europe's quantum ecosystem has real strengths – but scaling inventions remains the central challenge, marked by dependencies on global supply chains, fierce competition for skilled talent, and the weight of large non-European players.
The EU is responding with an important legislative package: the forthcoming Quantum Act aims to enhance the co-ordination of European quantum research, support scaling, and strengthen both supply chains and technology sovereignty. It sits within a broader strategic effort that includes instruments such as the European Innovation Council’s Pathfinder portfolio of quantum technologies, designed to back the most ambitious, high-risk quantum research.
The EPO is also playing an active role, providing European institutions with the highest quality technology intelligence and technology cartographies. Our comprehensive reports by EPO experts provide strategic information on patenting, standardisation and academic activity in specific technology fields.
Quantum meets scale: see you at VivaTech 2026
Join us on 18 June in Paris, for our Scaling Quantum Innovation workshop, hosted in collaboration with INPI France . You will get the chance to hear insights from the latest EPO and OECD - OCDE data, as well as perspectives from C12 , the VC fund Quantonation and tech transfer specialists at CNRS Innovation .
👉 No #VivaTech pass? Comment below on why you want to join and the one quantum scaling challenge you want discussed live. Three standout participants will receive a free ticket.
Thank you for reading The Tech Fingerprint.
Quantum is one of the most talked-about technologies today, and the debate around its future is growing. What do you see as the biggest bottleneck holding quantum technologies back right now: funding, talent, hardware, or commercialisation?
And which quantum startups do you think should receive more attention? Tag them in the comments.
Leave your thoughts below and remember to subscribe so you don’t miss our next edition – we explore a different technology shaping the future each month.
Excellent timing for this edition of The Tech Fingerprint, European Patent Office! The transition of quantum mechanics from physics textbooks into scalable patent portfolios is indeed accelerating. As deep-tech researchers navigating this exact wave, we have strategically structured our patent architecture precisely around European Patent Convention (EPC) standards to ensure maximum clarity and robust support. Our portfolio, comprising a core application and three synchronized divisional applications, focuses on a room-temperature topologically protected hybrid plasmonic processor architecture. By anchoring the physical layer through Berry Phase locking and utilizing weak-measurement protocols, our methodology solves the fundamental decoherence barrier without requiring extreme cryogenic cooling. Ensuring that advanced hardware definitions remain fully synchronized with their fabrication steps and vertical application layers without expanding the original subject-matter is the ultimate test of patent quality. We are proud to contribute to this quantum moment with an unshakeable IP foundation tailored for global scaling. Looking forward to reading the full insights!
Which startups should receive more attention? Well... to name but a few magnificent pioneers: Qblox, Groove Quantum, Orange Quantum Systems, QuantWare, Delft Circuits, Delft Networks, FrostByte, QHarbor, Q*Bird
A great update. The "patent-first, publish-second" approach is music to my ears. To know your IP and use it wisely as a core part of commercial strategy is so important. Also interesting to see that both of the featured startups are based in France where government funding policy seems to target strong 'favourites' to support to success, as opposed to spreading funding more thinly over more start-ups.
Quantum technologies are rapidly moving from research to commercialization, with patent activity and policy shaping Europe’s emerging competitive position.
Great summary — thanks for sharing. The article highlights the tension between patenting and publishing. It would also be valuable to look at how the major players contribute on the scientific publication side. Back in 2021, the ratios of patent filings to scientific papers differed dramatically between countries (see, e.g., https://www.iam-media.com/article/what-patent-numbers-say-about-the-state-of-the-quantum-technology-race). It would be interesting to see how those dynamics have evolved since then. Michel Kurek, FYI.