Analysis on Patent Activity and Technical Diversity in Green Car Fields

Patent activity was analyzed using green car-related patents according to the country and applicant. Green car-related R&D has been actively underway in advanced countries such as the U.S., and Japan, and recently, Korea has joined it by developing hybrid electric vehicles, electric vehicles, and fuel cell electric vehicles. Among green car-related patent applicants, Toyota motor in Japan has the largest percentage of the latest patents, and Honda Giken Kogyo has the largest percentage of triadic patents. As a result of comprehensive review of the number of patents, and the percentages of the latest patents and triadic patents in green car fi elds, it was found that the U. S. and Japan have excellent patent activity, while Korea has a low percentage of triadic patents. It was analysed that the percentages of the latest patents in Korea was relatively higher for fuel cell electric vehicles but lower for clean diesel vehicles and hybrid electric vehicles among green car fi elds than in advanced countries. Technical diversity by country was analyzed with hybrid electric vehicles (HEV), electric vehicles (EV), clean diesel vehicles (CDV), and fuel cell electric vehicles (FCEV).