Quantum AI Patent Applications Grow in Line with Overall AI Growth, Despite the EPO’s Focus on Technical Problems, Marks & Clerk Report Finds

Read Marks & Clerks AI Report 2025 here. 

• Continued growth and ongoing mainstream adoption: AI patent publications at the EPO hit an all-time high in 2024, demonstrating the sustained, record-level investment and output in European AI development.
• A tale of two innovation races: While the US and South Korea dominate per capita AI patent filings at the EPO - leaving Japan and Europe behind in a widening innovation gap - Japan has surged ahead in quantum AI, overtaking even the US in per capita QAI publications.
• Allowance rate discrepancy: The allowance rate for Quantum AI applications at the EPO is currently about 4% lower than the average allowance rate for classical AI applications, signalling greater scrutiny or technical complexity.
• Commercial value at risk: The market for QAI-driven optimisation is expected to exceed $2 billion by 2030, underscoring the urgency for companies to secure foundational IP now before the market matures.

LONDON, 25 November 2025 – Marks & Clerk’s fifth annual AI Report, published during the International Year of Quantum Science and Technology, reveals insights into the convergence of Artificial Intelligence and Quantum Computing (QAI) within the European patent system. 

Despite continued overall growth in AI and QAI patent filings at the European Patent Office (EPO), QAI applications are currently experiencing a slightly reduced allowance rate compared to classical AI inventions. This downturn is suspected to be driven, at least in part, by EPO’s stringent interpretation of what constitutes a "technical problem," which threatens the ability of innovators to protect foundational QAI technology and attract investment. 

Many QAI applications are directed to solving “optimisation problems”, which is a class of problems that quantum computers are particularly adept at solving. 

However, a significant number of commercial use cases for optimisation problems relate to types of problems that the EPO considers “non-technical”. Classical AI also has many commercial use cases (e.g., medical imaging, speech processing, and robotics) that demonstrate technical character and satisfy the EPO's patentability requirements. QAI’s broad application to many of these so-called ”non-technical” problems leave many critical inventions vulnerable and potentially unpatentable if not considered carefully during the drafting process.

Rhian Granleese, AI Report Author and Partner at Marks & Clerk, commented:“The EPO's focus on technical character means AI inventors in the quantum space may struggle to protect many applications of quantum optimisation technology, such as supply chain design, maintenance scheduling, and transport logistics. For this technology to realise its commercial potential in Europe, the industry must pivot its IP strategy immediately. The key to protection lies in the 'how', detailing the specific, novel interaction between the AI algorithm and the quantum hardware itself. This detail of how the software interacts with the hardware is the one of only a few defensible routes to obtaining protection in the current European patent landscape."

Notes to editors 

Marks & Clerk’s 2025 AI Report is available to download via: https://marks-clerk.page/ai-report-2025.

This is Marks & Clerk’s fifth annual AI Report, which aims to provide answers to industry questions before they have even been asked – as reflected in the decision to focus this year’s research on Quantum AI. 

Marks & Clerk is a world-leader across both the AI and quantum markets. Since 2015 Marks & Clerk has filed more European applications directed towards core-AI technology than any other European representative.

In addition, over this period Marks & Clerk has the highest grant rate (83.5%) of any of the other top 10 representatives of core AI patents. This is 32.6% greater than the European average of 51.9% for core-AI applications.

About Marks & Clerk 

Marks & Clerk is a leading international intellectual property firm, providing comprehensive IP services to businesses of all sizes worldwide. With over 300 attorneys across 15 offices in Europe, Asia, and North America, the firm helps clients achieve their ambitions through expert IP management. 

As specialists focused exclusively on IP, services include:

• Patent and trade mark prosecution

• IP strategy and portfolio management

• IP litigation, dispute resolution and oppositions

• IP due diligence and commercialisation

Marks & Clerk’s depth of expertise, underpinned by robust processes, enables the firm to select the right team tailored to exactly reflect the needs, ambitions, specialism and culture of its clients. Recognised by IAM, Managing IP, WTR, IP Stars, Chambers & Partners and Legal 500, Financial Times as a leading international IP firm with over 100 ranked partners, principals, and associates across its office network.