Global patent applications for humanoid robots have gone through four main stages of development:
The first stage is the embryonic stage of technology (before 2000) : humanoid robot technology has related patent applications as early as 2000, and the number of patent applications at this stage is small, mainly Japanese patents.
The second stage is the slow development stage (2000-2014) : the number of patent applications is small, showing a slow growth trend. In the early period, Japanese patents dominated, followed by American, South Korean and European patents. Later in this stage, the layout of patent applications in various countries changed: Japanese patents, which led the application in the early stage, declined sharply and entered the stage of smooth development, Korean and European patents entered the downward channel of patent applications, and the number of patent applications in the United States fluctuated, while China entered as a new layout, and patent applications showed a slow growth trend. Since 2012, the number of patent applications in China has surpassed Japan to become the first. The increase and decrease of patent applications in different countries are cancelled out, so the global patent application volume shows a steady development trend.
The third stage is the rapid development stage (2015-2017) : the number of patent applications increased significantly compared with the previous year, mainly because many new applicants in China poured into the technology field, making the number of patent applications in China explosive growth, and the number of applications in other countries quickly opened up the gap. Also showing growth were U.S. patents, European patents, and Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT) applications. Among them, the number of patent applications in the United States officially surpassed Japan in 2017, and remained stable in second place after China. Japanese patents still continued the steady development trend of the previous stage, and South Korea's patent applications were less.
The fourth stage is the stage of stable development (since 2018) : The average annual application volume of humanoid robot-related technologies has maintained a high growth, reaching a peak in 2019, and beginning to stabilize in 2020. During this period, Chinese patents still dominated, and American patents ranked second. Patent applications in China, Japan, Europe, and South Korea remained stable within their respective application ranges, while applications in the United States and PCT continued to grow.
At present, China is the world's largest application for humanoid robot technology patents, the cumulative number of applications has reached 6,618. Among them, the number of effective technology patents for humanoid robots of Chinese enterprises has reached 763, ranking first in the world.
Humanoid robot technology patent distribution analysis
1. China has become a major patent applicant for humanoid robot technology
At present, China has applied for 6,618 humanoid robot technology patents, which is the country with the largest number of humanoid robot technology patents.
In the early days of the development of the humanoid robot industry, Japanese enterprises and academic institutions were the main participants, and also the main technical patent applicants. Since 2015, China's patent applications for humanoid robot technology have grown significantly, with the number of patent applications (261) surpassing Japan (214) for the first time. In 2016, the number of patent applications for humanoid robot technology in China became the first in the world for the first time (721); In 2022, China's total number of humanoid robot technology patent applications (6,596) surpassed Japan's (6,058) to become the world's first.
2, China's humanoid robot patent application is highly active, and the industry is strong
In the field of humanoid robotics, China's patent concentration has been declining overall since 2000, and fluctuated between 20% and 30% after 2014. Therefore, at present, China's patent concentration is low, and it can be inferred that China's competition in this field is relatively fierce and the industry is strong.
In contrast, Japan, South Korea, Europe and other countries and regions have a high degree of patent concentration, indicating that patents are mainly concentrated in the head of the industry, and the industry vitality is relatively low.
3. China ranks second in the world in the number of active invention patents
The number of invention patents can reflect the innovation ability and output performance of a country in the corresponding technology field to a certain extent, and has reference value for accurately evaluating the position and level of a country in the global competition pattern of related industries. In the field of humanoid robots, in terms of valid invention patents, China has a total of 1,699 valid invention patents, second only to Japan (1,743), ranking second in the world.
Humanoid robot patent technology layout analysis
1. The number of technology patent applications is rising, and the industrialization of humanoid robots is accelerating
In the past decade, the number of patent applications for humanoid robot technology worldwide has shown a significant increase in the growth trend. More and more enterprises, universities, and academic institutions continue to invest in the research and development of humanoid robots, and the progress of various technologies has accelerated the research and development and commercial application of humanoid robots, and humanoid robots are expected to accelerate the pace of commercialization.
2. Humanoid robot technology patent application three hot directions: ontology structure, intelligent perception, drive control
In the technical branches of humanoid robots, ontology structure, intelligent perception and drive control are the three main technical patent layout fields, among which, joint, leg, machine vision, gait control and other technologies are the key patent layout branches.
Humanoid robot patent applicant analysis
1. Overview of the number of valid technology patents for humanoid robots
based on the analysis of the number of valid patents held by the applicant, Youbi Technology has ranked first in the world in terms of the effective patent reserve of humanoid robots, higher than Honda, SONY, Toyota and other enterprises, reflecting that Chinese enterprises have occupied a place in the global humanoid robot industry.
2. Overview of the number of valid invention patents for humanoid robots
based on the analysis of the number of effective invention patents held by the applicant, Honda, a Japanese company that has invested in the research and development of humanoid robots since the 1980s, ranks first in the world with 659 effective invention patents, which also reflects the accumulation of investment in related technology research and development of Honda as a veteran humanoid robot company. Youbi ranked second in the world with 476 valid invention patents.
3. An overview of the activity of patent applicants for humanoid robot technology
According to the analysis of technical application activity, in the past five years, in the field of humanoid robots, the average annual number of patent applications of the company has been nearly 200, which is higher than the total number of patent applications ranked by the veteran applicants Honda, Toyota, Samsung, Seiko Epson, SONY, and Boston Dynamics, which has attracted much attention in the field of humanoid robots in recent years.
4. Youbi Technology, Honda, SONY, Toyota and other enterprises for the technical layout coverage is more comprehensive applicants
Different companies tend to focus on different technical branches in the application of humanoid robot technology patents. On the whole, Youbi Technology, Honda, SONY, Toyota and other enterprises for the technical layout coverage is more comprehensive applicants.
Humanoid robots are regarded as the "fourth industrial Revolution" signature products, from the number of technology patents can be seen, Chinese enterprises and institutions have taken the lead in a large number of forward-looking technology layout, which will lay a solid technical foundation for China to meet the new technology wave.
With the advent of generative AI, a new race has begun for humanoid robots. In order to explore more development opportunities for humanoid robots in the industrial chain coordination, help China's humanoid robot industry develop a new model, and accelerate the landing application of China's humanoid robot industry. On December 14, at the "2023 China Mobile Robot (AGV/AMR) Industry Development Annual Meeting" held by the CMR Industry Alliance, the "2023 (Shenzhen) Foot/humanoid Robot Ecological Summit" will be held at the same time, when representatives from the foot/humanoid robot industry chain will gather together. Explore the latest technology and trends of foot/humanoid robots. Stay tuned!