Patents aren’t a scoreboard
In a series of blog posts, Marco Coolen offers a glimpse into his work as a Dutch and European patent attorney at AOMB.
Published on October 11, 2026
Marco, a patent attorney at AOMB since 2013, shares his expertise on IO+ about patents—how they work, why they matter, and when they lose their value.
BYD files about 52 patent applications per day.
That’s an impressive number. It sounds like innovation at full speed, especially when you compare it to European automakers like Volkswagen, BMW, and Mercedes-Benz, where the number of patent applications per R&D employee is significantly lower.
Put into perspective, those German brands average roughly one patent per nine to ten R&D employees per year. BYD comes closer to one patent per 6.3 R&D employees per year. On paper, the conclusion seems simple: BYD innovates more aggressively. But of course, it’s not that simple. Because what are you actually measuring when you count patents?
Marco Coolen, photo © Bart van Overbeeke
You’re not automatically measuring innovation. You’re primarily measuring how many technical ideas are legally protected. That can say a lot about R&D intensity, but it’s far from telling the whole story about real market impact.
A company can build up a massive patent portfolio and still have little commercial advantage. Conversely, a company can file relatively few patents and still shake up an entire market. Tesla is the best example.
Compared to BYD and European automakers, Tesla files relatively few patents. Yet it’s hard to argue that Tesla has had little impact on the automotive industry. The company transformed expectations regarding electric mobility, software updates, charging infrastructure, and direct sales.
That makes the comparison interesting. BYD files many patents across a wide range of technologies, partly because it develops much of its technology in-house. Batteries, powertrains, electronics, production processes: much of the expertise remains in-house. It therefore makes sense that much of that technical progress ends up in its own patent portfolio.
European automakers operate differently. They traditionally rely on strong supply chains. Much innovation originates with specialised suppliers. As a result, automakers don’t always get credit for that technical progress; they give it to others in the chain.
That doesn’t mean there’s less innovation.
It means that innovation is distributed differently.
And then there’s Tesla, which shows that impact can also come from bold decisions, fast execution, and a strong ecosystem. Not everything has to go through a robust patent portfolio. Sometimes the competitive edge lies in software, production methods, branding, data, scale, or vertical integration.
That’s why using patent counts as a scorecard is dangerous. More patents don’t automatically mean better innovation. Fewer patents don’t automatically mean less of a competitive edge. The real questions are more interesting. Where can you develop freely? Where does commercial value arise? Where does legal risk accumulate? And which parts of your technology are so important that they need protection?
A patent portfolio shouldn’t be a collection of trophies. It needs to serve a purpose: slow competitors, provide a negotiating position, support investments, enable licensing, or create the freedom to enter a market. Patents, therefore, aren’t a final score. At best, they’re indicators.
Sometimes they point to technical depth. Sometimes to a defensive mindset. And sometimes, above all, to a company that has become very good at documenting a lot of things. Not everything you can count really counts.
The World of Patents
With the help of Dutch and European patent attorney Marco Coolen (AOMB), we can better understand the world of patents. How do they work, why are they important, and when do they lose their usefulness?