Self-driving trucks have threatened to upend the freight industry for years, but a new report on the pace of patents within the tech industry focused on autonomous driving reveals how close the world is to this revolutionary event, and who the winners and losers might be.
"Patent activity in autonomous vehicles is insanely hot right now and has been over the past three years," read a report from Patent Forecast, a firm that tracks intellectual property developments within industries.
According to the report, issued patents and published applications have exploded in the last four years as the race to true self driving heats up, but the frontrunners in the pack have already begun to consolidate and widen their lead via partnerships.
"Partnerships are becoming a vital part of the industry. Whether it be between OEMs and autonomous driving platforms, companies are beginning to realize that an autonomous vehicle is too large for any one company to tackle alone. Instead, more companies have created strategic portfolios to complement their niche," the report read.
But, while partnerships facilitate the fusion of tech and hardware, as well as theory and practice, the real winners of the self-driving truck race will be patent owners, according to JiNan Glasgow George, the CEO of Patent Forecast.
"If I give any theme for this report, it's partnerships," she said. "The biggest, most immediate need in self-driving vehicles is long haul trucking. We've already seen some successful applications, and it's still early."
Patent Forecast's report looked at both the pace and scope of patents in the space as well as the broader market performance of each of the leading companies in self driving trucks to attempt to predict which company would win out in the end. Here's a look at some of the biggest players in the industry and where they stand.
