Automakers increasingly describe their vehicles as “software-defined”—platforms whose features, performance, and safety systems depend as much on code, connectivity, and data as on engines and sheet metal. A review of patent filings by six major automakers suggests that this shift is more than a marketing message. Rather, it’s reshaping where these companies invest in patent protection.
We reviewed US and international patent applications and granted patents assigned to Ford, General Motors, Stellantis, Tesla, Rivian, and BYD, comparing filings through 2020 with filings from 2021 to the present. Within those totals, we identified “software and vehicle-control” filings —those classified in areas such as computing and data processing, artificial intelligence and machine learning, image recognition, network and wireless communications, driver-assistance and automated-driving control, electric-vehicle power and battery management, radar and lidar sensing, navigation, and traffic management.
What the results told us
Across the six companies combined, software and vehicle-control filings rose from about 32% of all patent filings through 2020 to about 48% since 2021. The shift is even sharper in the US, where these filings now account for about 61% of the companies’ US patent applications, up from 44%, and about 56% of their US granted patents, up from 30%.
Software and vehicle-control filings as a share of each automaker’s total patent filings (US and international applications and grants), through 2020 versus 2021 to present.
The established automakers show the most dramatic change in share. Ford’s software and vehicle-control filings grew from 35% of its total filings to 59%, GM’s from 28% to 53%, and Stellantis’s from 40% to 61%. In US patent applications alone, these filings now represent 66% of Ford’s applications, 61% of GM’s, and 71% of Stellantis’s. Tesla has moved at a similar pace, with its share rising from 19% to 40%. In short, companies long known for mechanical engineering now direct most of their new patent activity toward software-driven technology.
The EV-focused manufacturers, by contrast, stand out for the pace of their filing volume. Rivian, which does not appear to hold any patents filed before 2016, has filed 570 US software and vehicle-control patent applications since 2021, compared with 95 through 2020. Its software and vehicle-control filings overall have grown more than fivefold. Software has been central to Rivian’s portfolio from the start, accounting for roughly 55% of its filings in both periods. BYD has filed more than 8,100 international software and vehicle-control applications since 2021—well above the roughly 5,400 it filed through 2020—while its US filings remain comparatively modest. Tesla’s software and vehicle-control filings since 2021 nearly equal its total for all prior years combined.
What this means in practice
These trends carry practical implications:
- As software becomes the core of automotive patent portfolios, competitors, suppliers, and technology partners can expect these portfolios to play a larger role in licensing negotiations, cross-licensing, and potential assertions.
- Software-related inventions face particular challenges under the patent-eligibility requirements of US patent law specified in Section 101, so applications should be drafted to tie claimed features to concrete technical improvements in vehicle operation.
- Filing geography matters: Stellantis and BYD file predominantly outside the US, underscoring the need for coordinated global filing strategies. Businesses across the automotive supply chain should evaluate their own portfolios and freedom-to-operate positions with these shifts in mind.
A note on the methodology
These figures are approximate and are best read as directional. Counts were not grouped by patent family, include inactive patents and applications, and may include a small number of filings from similarly named entities. GM’s international figures also include joint ventures such as SAIC-GM-Wuling. Because the earlier period spans many more years than the later one, the most meaningful comparison is the share of filings devoted to software and vehicle-control technology, rather than raw totals.
As vehicles continue to evolve into connected, software-driven platforms, patent strategy in the automotive industry is evolving with them. Nixon Peabody’s Intellectual Property Team will continue to monitor these developments and report on trends in automotive patent activity.
