Japanese carmaker Nissan has sought about five patents (three of them filed in May 2017) on technologies relating to autonomous vehicles.
As per the abstract of the filings with the Indian patent office, the technologies will help car sense road conditions as well as navigation and help the car overcome obstructions and sensing vehicles ahead.
Last year, Nissan unveiled 2017 Serena minivan featuring technology that enables semi-autonomous highway driving. The so called Nissan ProPilot system provides self-driving at speeds suited for Japanese roads. Nissan said the system provides one-lane highway driving for the Serena minivan, however it cannot change lanes or routes autonomously. The firm said it is working towards switching lanes option.
According to intellectual property research firm Innomantra Consulting Private Ltd., the number of patent applications towards autonomous vehicle technology has been growing rapidly across the globe. The number of patent publications has grown to nearly 60 in 2017 from 20 in 2013.
Nissan’s rivals Toyota, Ford have also been active in patents for autonomous driving technology. Technology giants Amazon and Alphabet are also been filing patents on driverless technology, according to data from Innomantra.
