The automotive industry continues to be a hotbed of patent innovation. Activity is driven by the need to increase the life expectancy of an engine, the high-performance standards of any vehicle, and growing importance of technologies such as sulphur-free lubricant-additive solutions. In the last three years alone, there have been over 720,000 patents filed and granted in the automotive industry, according to GlobalData’s report on Advanced materials in automotive: anti-wear lubricants. Buy the report here.
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According to GlobalData’s Technology Foresights, which uses over one million patents to analyze innovation intensity for the automotive industry, there are 300+ innovation areas that will shape the future of the industry.
Anti-wear lubricants is a key innovation area in advanced materials
The anti-wear additives in a lubricant system work to stop abrasion. These additives function by creating a sacrificial coating on a metal surface when the lubricating oil is no longer able to produce the required film thickness thereby preventing asperities on the metal surfaces from coming into direct contact.
GlobalData’s analysis also uncovers the companies at the forefront of each innovation area and assesses the potential reach and impact of their patenting activity across different applications and geographies. According to GlobalData, there are 100 companies, spanning technology vendors, established automotive companies, and up-and-coming start-ups engaged in the development and application of anti-wear lubricants.
Key players in anti-wear lubricants – a disruptive innovation in the automotive industry
‘Application diversity’ measures the number of applications identified for each patent. It broadly splits companies into either ‘niche’ or ‘diversified’ innovators.
‘Geographic reach’ refers to the number of countries each patent is registered in. It reflects the breadth of geographic application intended, ranging from ‘global’ to ‘local’.
Patent volumes related to anti-wear lubricants
Source: GlobalData Patent Analytics
Taiho Kogyo is one of the leading patent filers in anti-wear lubricants. The company has used the contact Lamba Ratio to come up with a method for accurately assessing mixed/boundary friction in a lubricated contact when both ZDDP anti-wear additives and extreme-pressure (EP) additives are used in vehicles. Some other key patent filers in the innovation area include Graphene Platform, Toyota Motor, Idemitsu, and NSK.
In terms of application diversity, Graphene Platform held the top position, while Toyota Motor and Taiho Kogyo stood in second and third positions, respectively. By means of geographic reach, Graphene Platform leads the pack, followed by Mitsubishi Gas Chemical and Sumitomo Electric Industries.
To further understand the key themes and technologies disrupting the automotive industry, access GlobalData’s latest thematic research report on Automotive.
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GlobalData, the leading provider of industry intelligence, provided the underlying data, research, and analysis used to produce this article.
GlobalData’s Patent Analytics tracks patent filings and grants from official offices around the world. Textual analysis and official patent classifications are used to group patents into key thematic areas and link them to specific companies across the world’s largest industries.
