According to the data compiled by the European Patent Office (EPO), South Korean giant Samsung has filed the highest number of patents related to self-driving cars in Europe.
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This data revealed the number of applications related to self-driving cars filed in Europe came to 3,998 in 2017, growing more than threefold from 922 tallied in 2011.
In the period from 2011 to 2017, Samsung Electronics filed the highest number of patents at 624. Another popular US company INTEL filed 590 patents. Chipset maker Qualcomm filed 361 patents followed by another South Korean company LG. Further, Bosch filed 343 patents for self driving cars.
This figure shows that ICT companies are making more efforts to provide self-driving technologies than traditional vehicle manufacturers.
Surprisingly, only three firms such as Bosch, Toyota Motor Corp. and Continental AG were related to the motor industry among the top 10 players in the list. Europe owns 37.2% of patents, followed by the United States with 33.7%. South Korea accounted for 7%, Japan accounted 13% whereas the China owns only 3% patents.
According to another report from the Korea Institute of Intellectual Property, Hyundai Motor Co. filed the maximum number of related patents from 2008 to 2017, the country was granted up to 981 patents, followed by Hyundai Mobis Co. 686, Mando Corp with 564. LG Electronics and the Electronics and Telecommunications Research Institute posted 293 and 238, respectively.