Trends related to Sony's Automotive Technologies

Shift in patent application trend from battery to information processing related

2021/06/07

Table of contents

Summary
Trends of patent applications related to Sony's automotive-related technologies
Number of applications for development items
Example of development item "rechargeable batteries, battery packs, electric vehicles"
Example of development item "information processing devices, methods and programs for the notification of approaching objects”
Example of development item "Vehicle management and terminal devices”

Summary

This report created by MarkLines focuses on a number of recent technical topics surrounding the automotive industry and is based on patent information from the “Technology Information Distribution Service - swimy” obtained by the Toyota Technical Development Corporation (TTDC). The two business areas of TTDC are in the fields of intellectual property and measurement control solutions. The intellectual property (IP) side of TTDC is involved in the collection and analysis of information on automotive technology developments globally, and provides services such as consulting for research planning, applying for patents in foreign languages, and technical translation.

Sony Corporation, in 2020, announced VISION-S as its mobility initiative, and in 2021 announced its initiatives related to development activities, prototype vehicles and field testing. This report, based on patent application information, describes the trends in Sony's efforts to develop automotive-related technologies.

The number of patent applications filed by Sony for automotive-related technologies had been increasing since 2013, reaching a peak in 2016 before trending downwards. In recent years, the ratio of applications in the field of autonomous driving has been higher than that in the field of batteries. Some of Sony’s battery technology has been transferred to Murata Manufacturing Co., Ltd. Until 2014, the ratio of applications for battery-related development items was high, and since 2015, the ratio of applications for information processing-related items has been increasing.

Source: Technical information distribution service - swimy　URL: https://ip.toyota-td.jp/service6/
This source (TTDC) has extensive content related to automobiles. Graphs can be created for contents of interest with a single click. The database also supports the detailed display and download of intellectual property related information.

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