Patent Activity in Leading Areas of Modern Technological Progress – Analysis with Identification of the Place of the EU and Bulgaria

The subject of research in this article is patent activity in selected areas of the contemporary technological progress. The aim is: to study and present leading countries, the place of the EU, including Bulgaria, in two of the leading areas of technological progress in recent years – "artificial intelligence" and "generative artificial intelligence" in education and medicine, "biomedicine" and digitalization" as mutual influence and crossdirections "bioprinting", "digital twins" and "generative artificial intelligence in medicine and education". Author thesis: In the conditions of modern galloping technological progress, the leading directions of scientific research and the subsequent patent activity determine the opportunities for competitiveness of the economy, including the economy of the EU and Bulgaria in particular. The selected cross-directions of technological progress shape the future in scientific research, in medicine and in education, which are the significant directions for achieving independence, market sustainability and competitiveness of the economy at the national and regional level. The article contains an analysis of the current patent activity as of March 2026, the leading countries – patent holders in the selected areas, the position of the EU and Bulgaria's competitive economies in the selected crossareas of technological progress.