The pace of innovation in the electric, autonomous, and
connected vehicle space is staggering. These innovations relate to
advanced sensors, radar and LiDAR, geolocation, artificial
intelligence algorithms, telecommunications, and the software used
to integrate all these components and collect and process the data
to enable new or improved vehicular functionality. Supported by
copious investments from around the world, companies are racing to
bring these new technologies to market ahead of their competitors.
To protect against late entrants adopting their technology and
allow investors to hedge their risk, companies use patents to
create barriers to entry, generate revenue streams, or otherwise
provide leverage, filing 25K+ such patents in 2018. (Patent Trends Study Part Five: Automotive
Industry.)
