LG Group Affiliates Place 6th
The Korean Intellectual Property Office (KIPO) said on Nov. 11 that Korean companies, including affiliates of Hyundai Motor Group and LG Group, are rapidly increasing their self-driving patent applications.
According to KIPO, a total of 24,294 self-driving patent applications had been filed with the patent offices of the five intellectual property powerhouses, which include the United States, the European Union, Japan, Korea and China, between 2006 and 2020.
Hyundai Motor Co. ranked third with 3,080 patent applications, while affiliates of LG Group placed sixth with 2,019.
Hyundai Motor filed 2,104 self-driving patent applications over the past five years from 2016 to 2020, 2.4 times higher than those filed in the preceding five years. LG Group's patent applications increased 6.7 times during the same period.
Of the total 24,294 self-driving patent applications, automakers accounted for 13,280 applications (55 percent), while IT companies took up 5,765 (24 percent).
Car manufacturers' patent applications are concentrated in cognitive technology (5,630 patents) and vehicle control (5,423 patents).
IT companies and parts makers are expected to take the lead in patent competition in the future, as they tend to file more patent applications than carmakers these days.