Scenarios for the future 2025-2045
We are living through a time of instability in which the future no longer unfolds as we expect and predicting it can seem like a near-impossible task. This is especially true of the innovation landscape, which is shaped by a complex interplay of technical, economic, social and political factors. And yet, history shows that uncertainty often serves as a catalyst for innovation, spurred by the need for creative responses to new challenges.
Building on the foundations laid by the 2007 study Scenarios for the Future 2005-2025, the EPO is launching a new strategic foresight initiative to explore how the innovation system might evolve in the next two decades, what technologies could define this next period and what role the patent system and patent offices will take in the future. This new project will particularly focus on the opportunities and challenges that lie ahead.
We expect to unveil the outcomes of this project in June 2027.
The project’s three-pillar structure
Pillar 1: A retrospective assessment
A comprehensive review of how the patent system has evolved between 2007 and 2025, identifying key developments and inflection points. This retrospective analysis constitutes the factual and analytical foundation on which the project’s forward-looking components will be built.
Pillar 2: Future scenarios
Multiple plausible scenarios for Europe's innovation and technology trajectory through 2045. Each scenario explores different drivers of change and considers their potential impact on the development of the innovation and technology ecosystems.
Pillar 3: Strategic implications for the patent system
A far-reaching analysis of the implications of the different scenarios for the patent system, patent offices and key stakeholders across Europe. It will assess how varying future pathways could shape the demand for patent protection, the services provided by patent offices and patent professionals in relation to the broader policy environment.
Milestones on the road to 2027
Your contributions to the project
A diverse community of stakeholders will collaborate to imagine tomorrow’s innovation ecosystem and the patent system that will support it. A public consultation is planned later ahead in the project and will be announced in due course.
Public consultation: to be launched in Q1 2027.
For more information, contact us at [email protected].