"Products have not moved, patents first", for the automotive giants in the automotive and technology industries, this is an unwritten practice. In the field of driverless driving, the rushing and layout of patented technology is even worse. According to Thomson Reuters' latest report on intellectual property and technology, between 2010 and 2015, more than 22,000 invention patents related to automotive driverless technology, and in the process, some companies have emerged as industry leaders in the field. .
Interestingly, although Google’s coverage of the driverless field has always been the leader and dominated the industry, Thomson Reuters’ report found that “the leading position is the established car manufacturer, not the Silicon Valley technology company. Volvo, Toyota Auto giants such as Bosch, Denso, Hyundai, GM and Nissan have become global leaders in driverless technology innovation. Especially in the past six years, Toyota alone has obtained more than 2,000 new invention patents for driverless technology. The number of patents is twice that of Bosch.†However, the person in charge of Toyota also said: “The driverless and the latest automotive technology has blurred the boundaries between car companies and technology companies.†This means that innovative technology companies will have a chance to gain a share in the automotive sector.
The giants seized the patent layout
At the beginning of 2016, the technology of car unmanned lighting brightened people's eyes. For example, the German-developed end-to-end car (EOSmartConnecTIngCar2) can be connected at any time like a train. Connect and transfer power to charge a low-powered vehicle. More exaggerated is that its wheels can rotate 90 degrees, not only can be moved sideways, but also deformed, eliminating the trouble of the reversing.
When the Germans call it the future of intelligent transportation, you almost never doubt that the inventor should squat on the patent and related patents a few years ago. This is like when Google first launched the driverless car in 2014, it had already applied for the relevant patents as early as 2010.
Zhao Guobi, an intellectual property expert, told the China Business Journal: "Google’s patent applications for driverless technology in China are all PCT applications. Most of these patent applications related to driverless technology in China are in 2011, but The priority date is 2010, which also confirms that Google has been conducting research on driverless technology six years ago. That is, since that time, Google has started the global protection layout of patent applications."
Of course, the latest news about Google’s patent application in the driverless field was in early 2016, when Google acquired a patent for driverless delivery trucks. According to the data, Google has developed an "unmanned delivery platform" for delivery trucks. "The truck will be equipped with a lot of locks. If you order the goods, the truck will send the package to the designated location and the platform will send you a PIN code. You can use it to unlock the pickup. The patent also implies that the lock can be unlocked with a credit card or NFC reader. When the package is shipped, the truck will continue to the next delivery point or return to the warehouse to load more packages.
Obviously, this will create huge opportunities in the e-commerce and logistics industries. The data shows that the technology used by trucks is similar to the technology of Google-tested driverless cars. The patent document states: "Automated road vehicles can use a variety of sensors (such as video cameras, radar sensors, laser rangefinders) to 'see' traffic conditions, and can also draw detailed maps for cars to navigate on the road, it It can communicate with subsystems (such as wireless communication subsystems) and with controllers, other public facilities."
At the same time, the MIT Technology Review included the Tesla Autopilot in its evaluation of “Top Ten Breakthrough Technologies in 2016†and noted that the technology is now maturing. With this technology, the car can be safely driven in various environments, thereby reducing the amount of car accidents. Now, thousands of people in the world die every day from car accidents caused by human error.
At present, public news shows that car manufacturers Tesla, Volvo, Daimler, Toyota and other companies are developing the technology. Baidu completed its first full-automatic driving test in December 2015.
However, the patented technology involved in driverless driving is very wide. Some technologies may be the advantage of automobile companies, and some may be the advantages of software technology companies. This is why Google and Baidu can play an important role in this field. the reason. According to the rough statistics of Zhao Guobi, Google’s patent application in China involves how the driverless car can drive safely and safely on the road (including systems and methods for predicting the detected behavior of the object, controlling the lateral lane positioning of the vehicle), and key sensor control vehicle technology. , how to automatically navigate the technology, how to automatically identify the traffic lights, how to automatically diagnose and fault diagnosis technology.
In addition, on February 15th, Google’s large-scale recruitment in driverless driving also revealed the technical mystery of this aspect. In technical positions, it covers a wide range of areas of driverless vehicles, including system development related to manufacturing and engineering design. Aspects of gesture control, robots and sensors.
Thomson Reuters research also shows: "Although the leading companies in the automotive industry have a dominant position in the innovation of driverless technology, there are still many professional technology companies and research institutions that hold a large number of important patents related to driverless driving. Among them, LG, Samsung, Google, Boeing, IBM, Amazon, Carnegie Mellon University and MIT have contributed a large number of new patents in this field in the past six years." In China, several universities in this regard There are many research patents, Zhao Guobi told reporters: "Beijing Institute of Technology, Beijing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics, Shanghai Jiaotong University have a large number of patent applications." In addition, Inner Mongolia Maiku Smart Car Technology Co., Ltd., Baidu, etc. are all this Large patents in the field.
Cross-border cooperation is likely to become a development trend
According to various sources, in 2016, Google's automatic driving will be expanded on a large scale, and a wide range of Google driverless cars will be promoted. For example, outside the United States, London has extended an olive branch to Google, hoping that Google can bring driverless car testing into the UK.
However, Google will not be alone in this area, and its cooperation with Apple may promote its significant development in this field. According to Thomson Reuters intellectual property and technology analysts, Apple is preparing to enter into a car-related deal with Tesla, although Apple is not a major innovator in this area (only one invention in the driverless field), However, from the overall perspective of the patent portfolio owned by the two companies, the cooperation advantage is very obvious.
Of course, not only Google and Apple, many auto companies and technology companies have shown a cooperative advantage in the patent portfolio. For example, in the current hot Foxconn acquisition of Sharp, Sharp has a deformable screen for the future car. Innovative industry has great application prospects. Let's take a look at Ge Liang, Assistant Director of the Consultation Division of the Patent Search and Consulting Center of the State Intellectual Property Office. After the global patent search, the results are as follows: As of December 17, 2015, in the field of multi-sensor information fusion technology, global applicants submitted a total of 505 patent applications, the technical content related to the vehicle traffic control system, etc., the main applicants are Bosch, Daimler, Toyota, etc., which submitted 36, 25, 23 patent applications.
In the field of vehicle positioning technology, global applicants submitted a total of 1,614 patent applications involving radio orientation, navigation systems and radar systems. The main applicants are Toyota, Google, General Electric, Bosch, Daimler. The company has submitted 57, 50, 36, 36, and 35 patent applications. In the field of vehicle control technology, global applicants submitted a total of 1,114 patent applications, including technical support for vehicle subsystems, vehicle road driving control systems, etc. The main applicants are Daimler, Google, Toyota, and General Motors. Electric companies, Ford, etc., submitted 47, 47, 43, 42, and 37 patent applications.
Obviously, these applicants are expected to become the leading companies in the future of unmanned driving. According to the latest data, 11 of the top 20 global unmanned technology innovation companies are from Asia, and their patents are intricate technology. It is not possible to do everything, and cooperation and cross-licensing in the patent field will also become an important trend in the future. However, people from the industry also told reporters: "The premise of cooperation is that there must be chips in their hands. Therefore, in the current stage of unmanned driving development, the patent layout of the beach will remain the theme of this industry."
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