The number of patent applications at the European Patent Office (EPO) rose by almost 3% last year to 199,275 new inventions. Digital communication, electrical machines and energy technology were the growth areas, the EPO said in Munich on Tuesday. Significantly more applications were received from South Korea and China in particular. However, the US is still clearly in the lead with around 48,200 applications. Germany followed at a considerable distance with an increase of 1.4% to almost 25,000 applications. Japan was next with around 21,500, followed by China with 20,700, South Korea 12,600, …