Figure 3: Regional distribution of automotive patent applications
Figure 2 Distribution diagram of the technical subject of Weilai Automobile Patent Application
Figure 4 Weilai Automobile Patent Application Area Layout
Recently, the company has been sued by a car in the United States. This paper complaint has once again brought people's attention to China's new car companies. In recent years, car companies have attracted a large number of Internet capital, such as Tencent twice. Leading Weilai Auto, Alibaba invests in Xiaopeng Automobile, Baidu invests in Weimar Automobile, and Baiteng Automobile wins investment from FAW Group and Ningde Times. Weilai Automobile, Qidian Automobile, Xiaopeng Automobile, Weimar Automobile and Baiteng Automobile They have displayed their models at various exhibitions. However, these companies have invested heavily in the research and development of new energy vehicles, whether they have sufficient technical reserves, whether they have submitted relevant patents to their own products. How to escort? The following will analyze the patent application and layout of several Internet-based car companies mentioned above for reference by relevant industry professionals (data from the incoPat database, time to the end of June 2018).
The overall situation of patent applications
Judging from the number and types of patent applications, 昶洧Automobile has filed a patent application for electric vehicles since 2009. Since 2014, the number of applications has increased significantly. Especially in 2018, the number of patent applications as of June 2018 is almost close to 2017. The number of patent applications filed throughout the year. Currently, 昶洧Automo has more than 690 patent applications published worldwide, of which more than 157 are filed in China, and more than 57% of patent applications filed in China are invention patent applications. This shows that the company has invested heavily in R&D and patent applications. As a car manufacturer established in 2014, Wei Lai Automobile's patent application is basically in line with the company's establishment. From 2017, Wei A large number of patent applications for automobiles have been published, and 780 patent applications can be retrieved. From the total number of applications, even if the data retrieved in 2018 is incomplete, the application volume of Weilai Automobile has basically surpassed that of automobiles. The invention patent application for the automobile accounted for 44%, and the utility model patent accounted for 39%. At the same time, there were a considerable number of design patent applications, such as the X-Bar before the Weilai Automobile Design patents have been carried out with unique designs such as 'Heartbeat Curve' LED taillights. Starting from 2015, the patent application for Singular Auto has submitted 184 patent applications, including 107 invention patent applications (2 authorized), 44 A utility model patent application and 33 design patent applications. Xiaopeng Automobile began to distribute patents in 2017, but the number is still small, with a total of 142 applications, including 68 invention patent applications and 40 design patent applications. There are 34 utility model patent applications. Due to its short establishment time, Weima Automobile has a total of 76 patent applications, including 18 invention patent applications, 14 utility model patent applications, and 44 design patent applications.
Patent application technical topic distribution
Figure 1 and Figure 2 show the technical topics involved in the patent application of the car and the Weilai car. Compared with the traditional car, the core technology of the new energy electric vehicle is concentrated in the three fields of battery, motor and electronic control. 1 It can be seen that the automobile has laid out more patent applications at the core technology point of the electric vehicle. The patent application of the power arrangement of the electric vehicle, the installation of the battery pack and the power unit accounted for more than half of the total application volume. As a electric vehicle company capable of developing electric super-running power of 1360 horsepower, the company's technology research and development strength in the field of electric vehicles has also been verified from its patent application technical topic distribution map, and its main patent applications are concentrated. In the three aspects of electric vehicles, the most important motor, battery and electronic control, and patent applications in the fields of vehicle maintenance, cleaning repair and lifting, should be related to the highly concerned electric vehicle substation launched by Weilai Automobile.
The technical topics of the singularity automotive patent application include vehicle accessories, window and electric digital processing. From the perspective of the technical subject, patent applications involving battery, motor and electronic control core technology account for less than 1/3. Although Xiaopeng Automobile has a small number of patent applications, more than 70% of patent applications are concentrated in the three core technical fields of electric vehicles, indicating that Xiaopeng Automobile has certain technical research and development strength in the field of electric vehicles. Patent applications involve new energy vehicle batteries, and the number of patent applications in the three major areas of motor and electronic control is small, indicating that the company's patent layout on the core technology of electric vehicles needs to be strengthened.
Geographical distribution of patent applications
As can be seen from Figure 3, the car has been patented in most countries and regions with developed automobile industries including China, the United States and Europe. As can be seen from Figure 4, the vast majority of Weilai cars The patent application was concentrated in China, and 55 patent applications were filed through the Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT). Due to the short application time, the situation of entering other countries was not further understood. Other Internet car companies submitted Patent applications are still limited to domestic.
According to the above analysis, from the perspective of the number of patent applications, Yanqi Automobile, as a company with a relatively early R&D in the field of new energy electric vehicles in Taiwan, has strong technical strength, and these Internet-based car manufacturers in mainland China have different degrees. The accumulation of patents, Weilai Automobile has carried out a large number of patents in the short term, and the number of patent applications of other companies is relatively small. The car’s lawsuit is precisely because the company has mastered the cutting-edge technology of electric vehicle development and is in time The United States, which has the most developed automobile industry, has obtained patent protection. From the geographical distribution of applications, there are a certain number of patent applications for foreign automobiles. From the distribution of technical topics of patent applications, 昶洧 cars, Weilai cars and small Peng Automotive has accumulated a certain amount of core technology in the new energy electric vehicle. The author believes that for the automotive industry, the importance of mastering the core technology is obvious. The domestic traditional automobile industry has always hoped to change technology through the market, but So far in the core technologies of traditional cars, such as engines, gearboxes and chassis Compared with foreign manufacturers, there is still a considerable gap. The author believes that Internet car manufacturers only truly recognize the importance of technology, continuously increase technology research and development, protect core technologies through patents, and make patents as early as possible according to market needs. Layout, in order to protect the sales of products, in the market competition to win the first opportunity.