Quantity and quality lag behind the US-Japan enterprise autopilot patent pending global layout

Baidu Apollo automatic driving technology cooperation car. Ying Ying

In Beijing Haidian Park, visitors are taking the world's first L4-class driverless bus. Ying Ying

　　In the field of automatic driving core patents, Chinese enterprises lag behind American and Japanese companies in quantity and quality, and the patent layout is highly concentrated in China, and insufficient attention is paid to overseas markets. In this regard, Chinese enterprises must strive to master the core patent standards, apply for patents in the target market for key technologies and quickly deploy them, and push patents out as soon as possible.

　　Driverless technology is a research hotspot in the global automotive industry, artificial intelligence and Internet industries. In China, companies represented by Baidu have brought unmanned driving into the public eye.

　　In July of this year, Baidu and Jinlong Bus launched Apolon to become the world's first L4-class mass production auto-driving bus. In November, Baidu Apollo and FAW Red Flag released the L4-class self-driving passenger car mass production plan, which is expected to be in small batches in 2019. Demonstration operation under the line, and more urban operations will be launched in large quantities in 2020.

　　Tencent, Ali, Guangzhou Automobile, and Beiqi are also actively deploying and developing. Among the startups, Weilai Technology, Horizon Robot, and Longitudinal Technology have all received great attention from the capital market.

　　However, in the midst of a good situation, there are hidden concerns. Recently, the “Autonomous Motor Industry Patent Analysis and Evaluation Report” jointly issued by the State Intellectual Property Office and Beijing Guozhi Patent Early Warning Co., Ltd. showed that as of April 1, 2016, in the core patent field, Chinese enterprises were behind in quantity to quality. In the United States, Japanese companies, and the patent layout is highly concentrated in the country, not enough attention to the overseas market. In the automatic driving world, China still needs to work hard.

　　Most of the patents are utility models

　　Autopilot consists of two concepts, driverless and assisted driving. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration divides automatic driving into five levels, level 0: driven by the driver; level 1: has more than one type of automated control functions, such as adaptive cruise and lane keeping system ACC; level 2: The car performs a variety of operational functions for the main body; Level 3: When the car-based driving does not work, the driver can be instructed to switch to manual driving; Level 4: Fully unmanned.

　　It can be seen from the definition that the autonomous driving technology is complex and involves technologies such as perception, V2I/V2V communication, navigation, decision making, execution control, vehicle dynamics, etc. In every aspect, breakthrough innovations are needed.

　　Taking perceptual technology as an example, it is like the eyes of a self-driving car, which determines its perception of the surrounding environment. From the perspective of the country of patent application, the source countries of environmental sensing sensor patent applications are mainly concentrated in Japan, China, the United States, Germany, and South Korea. Japan has become the world's most important source of sensory technology with 32% of the total. China ranks second with 24%, and the United States and Germany rank third and fourth respectively. Japan, China, the United States, and Germany accounted for 84% of the total number of applications for global sensory technology.

　　From the perspective of the target country of patent application, the target countries of patent applications are mainly concentrated in five countries and regions such as Japan, China, the United States, Germany, and Europe. Japan ranks first with 27%, China ranks second with 21%, the United States ranks third with 17%, and Germany ranks fourth with 9%. Japan, China, the United States, and Germany accounted for 74% of the global target countries for perceived technology.

　　“From the perspective of the distribution of the number of patent applications from the source country to the target country, Japan’s dominant advantage is obvious.” Chen Xuhong, director of the optical device room of the Beijing Center for Optoelectronic Technology Invention Review of the Patent Office of the State Intellectual Property Office, said that the number of patents in China is There are also many, but the number of utility models is large, and there is still a clear gap in technical strength compared to Japan. Japanese automakers, including Toyota and Nissan, attach great importance to automotive sensors and their own modern electronics industry base, which together have made Japan a leading global patent for automotive sensor applications.

　　"From the perspective of millimeter-wave radar sensing technology, Japan is an important technology-producing country. Although two universities in China have entered the top ten applicants, universities obviously do not have the ability to carry out technological transformation in the market." Chen Xuhong said, "In terms of machine vision sensing technology, Japan, South Korea and Israel's Mobileye company occupy an important position, and domestic technology research and development capabilities and technical protection are lacking."

　　More critically, the quality of intellectual property rights of Chinese companies in the field of autonomous driving is also inferior. “The number of citations of patents directly indicates the importance of patents.” Chen Xuhong said that for visual sensors, the most frequently cited applicants for global patents are Mobileye (561 times), Mitsubishi (325 times), and Delphi (246 times). Wait, there are no Chinese companies.

　　Less external technology output

　　In the more core unmanned field, Chinese companies are also slightly behind. According to Chen Xuhong's team statistics, global driverless patents began to explode in 2012, mainly because Internet companies represented by Google began to intervene in the field of driverless driving, and applied for a large number of patents at the same time. Other traditional auto companies also increased. Great research on unmanned technology. Represented by Google, the United States has obvious advantages in the field of driverless patents. It not only has the largest number of applications, but also has a relatively balanced global layout, and attaches great importance to the Chinese market. The number of applications for the Chinese market is significantly higher than that of other countries.

　　Germany, Europe, Japan, and South Korea also attach importance to foreign technology output. As of April 1, 2016, among the top 10 global applicants for driverless patents, Google ranked first, followed by traditional car companies and suppliers, and no Chinese companies.

　　"Comparatively, China's technological output is not only small, but the global layout is very lacking. There are almost no patent applications in other countries. Chinese companies still lack the awareness of global layout in the field of unmanned driving," said Chen Xuhong.

　　The same is true for assisted driving decision control technology. From the perspective of technology sources and technology flows, Japan is the largest source of technology for assisted driving decision-making technology. Not only in the country, but also in the United States, Germany and China, the number of patent applications is large, especially in the United States, which reflects Japanese applicants attach importance to the US market. In contrast, Chinese applicants' patent applications for assisted driving decision-making control technology are basically in the domestic market and are rarely deployed abroad.

　　Chen Xuhong suggested that Chinese companies should change the status quo of patent application methods that are not sufficiently skilled and relatively simple. They should actively learn from the patent application layout patterns and strategies of foreign companies, so that products are not moved, patents are first, and the key technologies are corresponding before and after product launch. The target market applied for a patent and quickly made a patent layout.

　　Navigation technology has potential

　　Navigation technology is another key to achieving a high level of autonomous driving. Automated driving car navigation systems based on high-precision maps involve three important aspects: high-precision maps, path planning, and positioning. In these segments, Japan is leading the way, but China also has opportunities.

　　From the overall patent application situation of navigation technology, China started late, Japan is the largest source and destination of patent applications, and its application for source and destination applications exceeds that of the United States, China, South Korea, Europe and other countries and regions. Sum. The number of applications for US and Chinese source applications and destination applications is ranked second and third.

　　For high-precision map technology, 6 of the 13 patent applications filed in China were submitted by foreign companies in China, and only 7 patent applications were filed by Chinese companies or universities. Domestic companies are basically in the field of high-precision maps. No patent layout has yet been developed.

　　For path planning technology, Japan is the largest source of technology, and the global layout is balanced, attaching great importance to overseas markets such as the United States, Europe, and China. Among the top 10 applicants, 9 are Japanese companies. The top 3 Aisin Aida, Toyota, and Denso are all subsidiaries of the Toyota Group of Japan, focusing on the development of auto parts and vehicles. Japan's strong strength in this field.

　　For positioning technology, its development is closely related to the development of hardware, and Japan currently dominates. “However, China has its own Beidou satellite navigation system and advanced communication network R&D enterprise, so the positioning technology has an excellent R&D foundation.” Chen Xuhong said, “Chinese companies should seize the opportunity to master the core patent standards and catch up with the global advanced positioning. technology".

　　Navigation technology patent statistics show that the number of destination applications in the United States and China is higher than the number of applications from sources, reflecting that the navigation markets in the United States and China are valued by applicants from all countries and actively deploying patents. Chinese companies face fierce competition in the local market. . (Reporter Yu Ying)