Hybrid cars – the value
of patent strategies in
innovation
Mike Lloyd and Justin Blows, Griffith
Hack
Contents
• Why study hybrid car patents
• Evolution of hybrid cars and hybrid car patents, and the dominance
of Toyota
• How to get around Toyota 1) – Lead user innovation
• How to get around Toyota 2) – Use of alternative technologies
• Use of Network Patent Analytics to rank patents and patent
portfolios
• Summary of lessons learnt
Background to study
• Griffith Hack wishes to show how patents support the development
of clean and sustainable technologies („clean technologies‟)
• Hybrid cars are an excellent example of a commercially successful
clean technology, with good patent data available
• Summary details of all worldwide patents in which „hybrid‟ and „car‟
were found within two words of each other within the patent
specification were downloaded from Thompson Innovation
• Patent data was extensively analysed to show the relationship
between patent filing and clean tech innovation
What is a hybrid car?
• Hybrid cars tend to feature:
– A combination of petrol and electrical energy sources
– Electrical energy partially collected during braking
• Now in production in Melbourne
• Hybrid cars are available or announced from Toyota, Honda, BMW, Audi,
General Motors, Ford, Nissan……and even Porsche
2010 Porsche petrol/electric
hybrid
1899 Porsche (designed)
petrol/electric hybrid
1906 Pieper patent for petrol
electric hybrid car
US patent 913,846
1969 General Motors (GM)
experimental hybrid
1997 Toyota Prius/electric hybrid
• Only about 60 made, due to their high price and marginal fuel
consumption improvement
Toyota start filing hybrid car patents in 1994Total sales of
2008 –
Toyota hybrids exceed
1.7 million
1994 – Toyota publicly
2000 – Toyota Prius
1997 – First Toyota Prius
commits to doubling
releasedreleased in US
fuel efficiency in Japan
Toyota rapidly built up a patent lead over
other car companies
Toyota have filed 43% of known hybrid car
patent families filed by car companies
Known hybrid patent families filed by car companies
Toyota 43%
Nissan 15%
Honda 9%
Other Japanese car companies 11%
All US car companies 8%
All European car companies 7%
Korea - Hyundai and Kia 6%
Chinese car companies 1%
0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50%
Percentage of known hybrid
car patents filed by car companies
Car company patent filings have been
supported by supplier filings
Known hybrid car families filed annually
4000
3500
3000 Non-Japanese car companies
2500 Non-Japanese suppliers
Japanese suppliers
2000
Japanese car companies
1500
1000
500
0
1990 1992 1994 1996 1998 2000 2002 2004 2006
Toyota dominates hybrid car sales
Source: Hybrid cars.com
Toyota‟s early filing lead has led to a self
reinforcing patent/sales ramp up
Toyota hybrid patent family filings and vehicle sales
Patent family filings (priority
1200 350
Worldwide hybrid car sales,
1000 300
250
800
thousand
year)
200
600
150
400
100
200 50
0 0
Family patent filings Hybrid car sales
Toyota‟s patent strategy has been
deliberate
“The first-generation Prius held more than 300 patents on its hybrid
technology. The second-generation Prius claimed 370 patents. Since
then, the Prius nameplate has had more than 2000 patent applications
filed across the world, with the third-generation Prius filing 1000 on its
own”
Bob Carter, Toyota US Division Group Vice President and General
Manager, 2009
How to get around Toyota?
1) Lead user innovation in plug in hybrids
• “affordable plug-in hybrids are a decade away”,
– Toyota, 2006, see http://www.calcars.org/calcars-news/508.html
“Lead user innovation” in practice..
Which in turn is leading to more patents..
How to get around Toyota?
2) Consider alternative technologies
Available from:
Captures and reuses BMW, Honda, Toyota, Nissan, Ford,
energy from braking GM, Mercedes, Audi……
Electric motors assist Honda, Toyota, Nissan,
conventional motor Ford…..
Toyota, (Nissan, Ford and Mazda
Electric motors in hybrid car
under licence from Toyota), GM in
can power car alone
2010
Plug in recharging Third party suppliers to Toyota hybrid
customers, GM in 2010, Toyota in 2011
of batteries
Pure electric (non hybrid) Mitsubishi, Renault, Tesla
– no conventional motor
But which patents are the best? Using
Network Patent Analytics to rank patents
and portfolios
Patent
citations
Citations in turn lead to other citations..
US xxxx
US 3605019
199x
1971
US 4630314
1986 US 5612948
1997
US 4679227
1984
US 5487069 Other citations
US 5612948
1996 US 5612948
1997
1997
US 4888767
1989
And 65
US 5095535 US 5612948
other patents..
US 5612948
1992 1997
1997
US 5195576
1993
Other citations
US 5612948
US 5612948
1997
1997
US 5283780,
1994
And so on, until we end up with a network of
citations (this schematic shows a network of the most
central 5500 patents in the hybrid car study)
This network in turn can be used to determine
the most important patents…
Most central patents: Hybrid car patent study
An alternative patent network
structure – stem cell patents
Top ranked hybrid car patents
Rank Patent number Priority Patent summary description Patent owner Citing Cited
year patents patents
1 US 6,209,672 1999 Combination of regenerative Paice Corporation 114 174
braking and conventional car
engine
2 US 5,343,970 1992 Electric motor shares drive with Paice Corporation 256 37
petrol motor
3 US 5,806,617 1995 Managing conventional motor in Equos Research 103 18
hybrid to optimise motor
efficiency
4 US 6,338,391 1999 Hybrid car with turbocharger Paice Corporation 30 185
5 US 4,351,405 1978 Hybrid car with electric and petrol Hybricon 142 15
engine Incorporated
6 US 5,428,274 1991 Drive control apparatus of series Toyota 33 23
hybrid vehicle
7 US 6,554,088 1998 Only runs petrol engine when Paice Corporation 49 216
high torque needed
Just who are Paice Corporation?
• Paice Corporation was established in 1992 to develop hybrid drivetrains, i.e.
before Toyota moved into hybrids.
• Toyota has been held to infringe Paice‟s 1992 US patent 5,343,970, the
second ranked patent in our list of hybrid car patents.
• Litigation between Paice and Toyota is continuing.
Top ranked hybrid car patent applicants
Rank Assignee Relative importance Number of patents in
index* data set
1 Toyota 100 3635
2 Honda 71 1435
3 Nissan 62 1644
4 Ford 60 809
5 General Motors 23 428
6 Peugeot-Citroen 22 255
7 Hitachi 21 393
8 Volkswagen 20 127
9 Paice Corporation 18 28
10 Renault 16 209
* Top ranked applicant = 100
Lessons from IP strategies in hybrid car
innovation
• Hybrid cars have been around for over a century, but without major
commercial success until recently.
• This changed when Toyota chose to invest heavily in both drivetrain
development and patents, leading to dominance in both patents and sales,
and patent licenses to competitors.
• Strategies to deal with Toyota‟s patent suite include:
– Patent licensing (Ford, Nissan, Mazda)
– Alternative hybrid drivetrains (BMW, GM, Honda)
– Plug in conversions (A123 Systems and others)
– Pure electric cars (Mitsubishi, Nissan, Tesla)
• This data suggests that the patent system has encouraged technology
investment by both Toyota and its competitors.
• Hybrid car patents can be ranked in importance using Network Patent
Analysis. This shows the success of the early patents filed by US drive train
developer Paice Corporation.
Optimum innovation and IP strategies may
depend on your current technology and IP
position
Toyota Paice
Ahead of
leading File early and
File broad
technologies patents ahead
file often
of big players
Position in
relation to -Carefully review -Develop product
leading infringement risks improvements not
-Try to push technology supplied by main players,
technologies into new directions but sought by lead users
- Acquire or license from -Understand infringement
Behind technology leaders risks
leading
technologies GM, Ford… Suppliers of hybrid
plug-in kits
Primary: direct Secondary: suppliers to
suppliers of direct suppliers or
primary products consumers of products
or services or services
Degree of industry engagement
Acknowledgements
• George Mokdsi from Griffith Hack for the patent search
• The results in this presentation was based on patent data retrieved from the
core patent collections available through Thomson Innovation which is
provided by Thomson Reuters.
• Doris Spielthenner of Optimice for analysing the patent data using Network
Patent Analytics