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Autonomous driving, part 3: Facts and figures
New figures and rankings: DPMA explains method of analysis
At the beginning of 2018 we published an analysis on autonomous driving. Among other things, it also dealt with the growing number of patent applications and the manufacturers holding the most patents valid in Germany. There was a lot of media coverage of our figures on this important technology of the future. In addition, we received inquiries from companies about our method of analysis. Due to the broad interest, we have decided to further expand the analysis and explain on this page how we proceed.
As reported, German manufacturers were at the top of the patent ranking with a clear lead. Last year 38% of the patents for the German market were granted to manufacturers in Germany, 30% and 13% to Japanese and US manufacturers, respectively.
| Country[2] | Number |
|---|---|
| Germany | 325 |
| Japan | 259 |
| USA | 112 |
| France | 41 |
| Sweden | 28 |
| Others | 97 |
| Sum | 862 |
| [1]patents granted by the German Patent and Trade Mark Office and the European Patent Office; EP patents at the DPMA after publication | |
| [2]country of the first patent holder at the end of 2017 | |
Audi AG ranks first among the manufacturers with the most grants in 2017, followed by Toyota Jidosha K.K. and Volkswagen AG. Our analysis now covers the ranking positions from one to ten.
| Top 10 | Holder | Number |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | AUDI AG | 95 |
| 2 | Toyota Jidosha K.K. | 63 |
| 3 | VOLKSWAGEN AG | 51 |
| 4 | Robert Bosch GmbH | 46 |
| 5 | Nissan Motor Co., Ltd. | 32 |
| 6 | Bayerische Motoren Werke AG | 28 |
| 7 | Aisin AW Co. Ltd. | 23 |
| 8 | Mitsubishi Electric Corporation | 15 |
| 9 | Ford Global Technologies, LLC | 14 |
| 9 | Volvo Car Corporation | 14 |
| 9 | YAZAKI Corporation | 14 |
| [1]first patent holder at the end of 2017; possible interlinking of business enterprises was not taken into consideration | ||
With regard to the overall patents valid on the German market at the end of 2017, German manufacturers even have a slightly bigger lead: 42% are held by stakeholders in Germany.
| Country[2] | Number |
|---|---|
| Germany | 2006 |
| Japan | 1350 |
| USA | 527 |
| France | 227 |
| Republic of Korea | 150 |
| Others | 550 |
| Sum | 4810 |
| [1]patents granted by the German Patent and Trade Mark Office and the European Patent Office; EP patents at the DPMA after publication | |
| [2]country of the first patent holder at the end of 2017 | |
Since many companies here want to know where they stand, we have created an additional ranking among the German stakeholders. Robert Bosch GmbH heads the list of Germany's top patent holders as of the end of 2017. Audi AG and Volkswagen AG rank second and third respectively.
| Top 10 | Holder[2] | Number |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Robert Bosch GmbH | 480 |
| 2 | AUDI AG | 321 |
| 3 | VOLKSWAGEN AG | 203 |
| 4 | Bayerische Motoren Werke AG | 130 |
| 5 | Continental Automotive GmbH | 93 |
| 6 | Harman Becker Automotive Systems GmbH | 71 |
| 7 | Deutsches Zentrum für Luft- und Raumfahrt e.V. | 44 |
| 8 | Continental Teves AG & Co. oHG | 42 |
| 9 | Valeo Schalter und Sensoren GmbH | 36 |
| 10 | Daimler AG | 33 |
| 10 | Robert Bosch Automotive Steering GmbH | 33 |
| [1]country of the first patent holder at the end of 2017 | ||
| [2]first patent holder at the end of 2017; possible interlinking of business enterprises was not taken into consideration | ||
Overall, the analysis shows that the number of applications regarding autonomous driving has increased substantially over the last ten years. While the number of patent applications in the field of autonomous driving was still around 1,000 in 2008, well over 2,500 applications were received in the relevant fields of technology last year.
So much for numbers and top lists. Now to our methods used: In order to be able to carry out the analysis, we have based it on IPC classes. The IPC is a valid international system with a hierarchical structure that subdivides the whole sector of technology into classes, assigning all patent documents worldwide to certain fields. We have identified IPC classes that deal with autonomous driving and completely analysed them in our internal DPMAstatistik database system. This means that all applications or patents contained therein have been included in the present analysis. We carried out the analysis in February 2018.
| Field of technology | IPC Main Class[2] | 2008 | 2009 | 2010 | 2011 | 2012 | 2013 | 2014 | 2015 | 2016 | 2017 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Autonomous driving – course control in general | G05D1 | 29 | 23 | 27 | 24 | 45 | 32 | 48 | 65 | 73 | 78 |
| Assistance systems for drive control | B60W30/00 - B60W30/17 B60W40/00 - B60W40/10 B60W40/12 B60W50/00 B60W50/04 B60W50/08 - B60W50/14 |
268 | 285 | 277 | 343 | 399 | 468 | 601 | 785 | 971 | 1085 |
| Assistance systems for traffic control | G08G1/00 G08G1/07 G08G1/087 G08G1/09 G08G1/096 - G08G1/0967 G08G1/097 - G08G1/16 |
186 | 207 | 175 | 247 | 267 | 350 | 367 | 500 | 542 | 512 |
| Vehicle electronics in general | B60R16/02 | 181 | 222 | 189 | 189 | 291 | 345 | 376 | 348 | 364 | 461 |
| Navigation | G01C21/04 G01C21/26 - G01C21/36 B62D6/00 - B62D6/04 B62D1/24 - B62D1/28 G08G1/0968, G08G1/0969 |
273 | 219 | 210 | 179 | 174 | 197 | 222 | 269 | 239 | 341 |
| Sensor technology environment sensor systems | G06K9/62 G01S13/93 G01S15/93 G01S17/93 |
79 | 85 | 52 | 88 | 111 | 79 | 104 | 110 | 112 | 156 |
| Sum | 1.016 | 1.041 | 930 | 1.070 | 1.287 | 1.471 | 1.718 | 2.077 | 2.301 | 2.633 | |
| [1]national patent applications and PCT applications in the national phase | |||||||||||
| [2]IPC main class valid at time of query; without any claim to be exhaustive; results not related to autonomous driving may be included | |||||||||||
It should be noted, however, that there is no generally valid definition for assigning patent documents to the field of autonomous driving. Neither is there an IPC class that deals exclusively with autonomous driving; it is therefore not possible to make a completely clear distinction from other technical areas. The analysis should therefore be understood as the most accurate approximation possible to the current situation on the relevant market.
More information about facts and figures of the DPMA on our webpage Statistics
Picture: iStock.com/nevarpp
Last updated: 23 April 2024
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