3000 1000 2500 0 2000 En S sch er em gy ic o Pa Lab n na so ni c H yu nd M its ai ub is h Fu i jit su Ai si n so ot To y ik o Ep so n With recent government emphasis on fuel economy, which will be discussed in more detail in the Hot Topics section, and a growing market for hybrid and alternately powered vehicles, it is no surprise that propulsion is a category of high interest to the auto industry. Generally, all of the categories are seeing growth, but none has experienced the rapid rise seen in propulsion. Se t l ta eo ug Pe en in nt Co M its ub is hi ai r nd le yu 0 Figure 4—Top Ten Patent Assignees from Publication Year 2009 to 2013 Based on Number of Individual Inventions for the Propulsion Category Source: Thomson Innovation & Thomson Reuters Derwent World Patents Index Many of the companies in the top ten here are also in the top ten overall since propulsion is the largest of all of the categories. Notably, Hyundai is seventh in this category but third overall, suggesting that propulsion may not be the major focus of its portfolio. In Navigation, Japanese electronics company Seiko Epson is at the top of the field, joined by other electronics companies including Semiconductor Energy Lab, Panasonic, Fujitsu and Aisin. FIGURE 6: TOP 10 HANDLING ASSIGNEES 2000 1500 1000 In addition to developing categories within the automotive industry, this study also looks at the organizations generating the most innovations in each field. The companies that file the most automotive patents represent the groups that are investing the most in new technology, and provide a glimpse into the areas of innovation in which they are most interested. Figure 3 shows a chart of the top 25 most frequent invention filers in the automotive industry. t eo Pe en in Co nt ug ta l r le n m D Ep ai so d Se ik o Fr ie rp Co ZF an do ot h To y sc da Bo on M H yu nd ai 0 a 500 H TOP AUTOMOTIVE INNOVATORS There are representatives from Japan (Toyota, Honda, Denso, Seiko Epson, Mitsubishi), Korea (Hyundai), Germany (Bosch, Daimler, Continental) and the United States (GM) in the top 10. These companies represent 20 percent of all the filings that take place within the automotive industry. m Figure 2—Automotive Patent Filings Reduced to One Document per DWPI Family Charted by Category and the Publication Year of the Earliest Family Member Source: Thomson Innovation & Thomson Reuters Derwent World Patents Index 500 H 2013 da 2012 ai 2011 Figure 5—Top Ten Patent Assignees from Publication Year 2009 to 2013 Based on Number of Individual Inventions for the Navigation Category Source: Thomson Innovation & Thomson Reuters Derwent World Patents Index 1000 on 2010 Figure 3—Top Automotive Patent Assignees from Publication Year 2009 to 2013 Based on Number of Individual Inventions Source: Thomson Innovation & Thomson Reuters Derwent World Patents Index 1500 D 2009 0 H 2000 500 GM To y B ot H os a yu ch n H da o i D nda D ens a Se im o le ik r o M E GM p i t Co su so n b n Pat i n e i s h i na nt P e s o na l ug ic Zh N eo ej H iss t ia i an nd ta G ec h i e ZF Fo ly Fr rd i Ai ed s A in Vo lk B udi s M A u Rw a g W to en en li a Sc v D ult ha eve ef l fl Va e r le o 4000 0 2000 1500 Figure 6—Top Ten Patent Assignees from Publication Year 2009 to 2013 Based on Number of Individual Inventions for the Handling Category Source: Thomson Innovation & Thomson Reuters Derwent World Patents Index While Toyota is the top filer overall, and leads many of the individual categories, it is listed fourth for the handling category. This is contrasted with Hyundai, which is the top inventive company in this category and plays a prominent role in most of the other categories as well. 5 The State of Innovation in the Automotive Industry: 2015 The State of Innovation in the Automotive Industry: 2015 6 GENERAL INDUSTRY OBSERVATIONS GENERAL INDUSTRY OBSERVATIONS 6000 3500 2000 1000 so 8000 3000 h Entertainment 4000 en Safety & Security 4000 sc Handling D Navigation 10000 FIGURE 4: TOP 10 PROPULSION ASSIGNEES a Propulsion 5000 ot 12000 6000 2500 Bo FIGURE 2: AUTOMOTIVE INVENTIONS BY PUBLICATION YEAR Returning to the individual categories, it is also possible to identify the top companies in each of the more detailed areas in the automotive industry. Figures 4 through 8 highlight the top 10 companies within each category. Bo 7000 FIGURE 5: TOP 10 NAVIGATION ASSIGNEES a 8000 TOP INNOVATORS BY CATEGORY en (2009 - 2013) D FIGURE 3: TOP AUTOMOTIVE PATENT ASSIGNEES To y Looking at these categories over the past five years, as seen in Figure 2, it can be determined that the main driver for technology development in the automotive industry is investment in propulsion systems.
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