The Eyes of Autonomous Cars 'LiDAR', Startup and SME Patent Applications Increase

Graph of annual patent applications related to LiDAR technology from 2009 to 2018. Provided by the Korean Intellectual Property Office.

[Asia Economy (Daejeon) Reporter Jeong Il-woong] As patent applications related to LiDAR, one of the core technologies of autonomous vehicles, are rapidly increasing, the number of patent applications from domestic startups and small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) is noticeably rising. LiDAR is a rotating device that scans the surroundings using light and is mainly installed on the roof or body of vehicles.

According to the Korean Intellectual Property Office on the 8th, the number of patent applications related to LiDAR technology increased from an average of about 20 cases per year between 2009 and 2011 to 42 cases in 2012 and 121 cases in 2017.

It is reported that large corporations, startups, SMEs, and foreign companies have all increased their number of patent applications related to LiDAR technology.

In particular, domestic startups and SMEs filed fewer than 10 patents until 2014, but increased to more than 20 in 2015 and recently over 30, leading the growth in LiDAR-related patent applications.

This is interpreted as being due to startups and SMEs being well-suited to compete with original ideas in developing new shape designs and cost reduction technologies for LiDAR.

Among LiDAR-related technologies applied to autonomous vehicles (based on the number of patent applications), autonomous driving signal processing (28%), LiDAR structure and control (26%), and LiDAR embedded components (10%) accounted for the majority.

In the autonomous driving signal processing field, signal processing technologies for driving environment recognition were mainly applied for patents, while in the LiDAR structure and control field, rotating LiDAR technologies accounted for the majority of applications. Additionally, in the LiDAR embedded components field, photodetectors have mainly dominated so far, but recently, patent applications for beam irradiation angle control devices for fixed LiDAR have been increasing.

Lee Junho, head of the Autonomous Driving Examination Team at the Korean Intellectual Property Office, said, “The development of LiDAR technology by startups and SMEs in the autonomous vehicle sector is expected to continue steadily in the future.”

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.