The Netherlands is lagging behind the rest of Europe when it comes to applying for patents, according to figures released on Wednesday by the European Patent Office in Brussels.

Where other countries have made up the decreases of 2008 and 2009 to book the highest ever number of applications in 2010, the Netherlands saw a further fall of 10% on the year earlier figure, following a fall of 5% in 2008.
The country is, however, still in fifth place behind England, Switzerland, France and Germany which tops the list.
The number of patent applications is a good way of measuring the dynamism of innovation in a country, says the Financieele Dagblad.