Robotics patents by country - it gets worse!

Tom Green, whom I hold in high esteem, recently pointed out(link) that nearly 35% of all robotics patents filed between 2005 and 2019 are registered in China (image below). The time interval still includes the period before China's rise. If only the year 2019 is considered, China already comes to a share of 43% (image above), Germany is - as in the long run - only about 4%.

I firmly believe that China's global market share of patents has continued to increase in the meantime. The blog reports quite frequently on Chinese companies that were only founded from 2015 onwards.

China is everywhere

In addition, Chinese-dominated companies have long been found not only in China, but all over the world. Not only with subsidiaries, but also with their headquarters. In Germany, Kuka, Yuanda, Neura Robotics and Agile Robots are known to be under strong Chinese influence. In the U.S., this is quite obviously the startup Flexiv, which was highlighted here again just this week. (Since many Chinese employees do not dream of moving back to China at some point, we can possibly hope. In conversations, Chinese living in Munich regularly appreciate the better quality of life here, including the better air. The latter is especially true for young parents).

China benefits from its universities

However, the listing of Chinese companies should not obscure the fact that Chinese universities are obviously much more patent-oriented than German universities. Page 7 of this interesting source illustrates the dominance of universities in China in the relevant robotics patents. In Germany, on the other hand, they are insignificant. Either there is a systematic error here (in Germany they spin off and already they are assigned differently) or we should ask ourselves what is going wrong here. In fact, Franka Emika, drag&bot, Wandelbots, Yuanda, ArtiMinds or Agile Robots are spin-offs from research institutions. In this respect, there is hope that our universities are just as research-intensive.

AI patents are to be considered

Malicious tongues say: There are great AI-based cobots. However, they don't have any certification. Indeed, Universal Robots, Omron, Kassow or Doosan may seem a bit boring compared to Neura Robotics. But on the other hand, they may be used in production operations without hesitation. But the full-scale use of AI-driven robots is only a matter of time. Flexiv was recently CE-certified. As a result, another Chinese domain is likely to gain in importance: The use of artificial intelligence in robotics. China is very, very strong in AI. The country owes its strength not only to politics and the corresponding subsidies (Bavaria also has them), but also to the apparently greater playfulness or curiosity of its inhabitants. Software patents, however, are more difficult to patent. When software is taken into account, the more recent Chinese dominance could thus be even greater. By the way, a podcast of "AI in Industry" recently dealt with the patentability of software, especially in the field of artificial intelligence(link).

Difficult situation for the Politics

Politicians are well aware that robotics as well as AI are technologies of the future, as the example of Bavaria shows. (Bavaria funds more AI chairs than Merkel's big AI program at the federal level). Only when politicians want to seek advice, they are so slowly faced with the question of whom. From a company with purely German shareholders, of which there are only a few in the field of robotic arms, or from one with foreign shareholders. The same applies to the requirement of any support programs, e.g. research. The question here is how to prevent know-how promoted in Germany from providing jobs abroad instead of here. Neura Robotics and Yuanda are known to manufacture exclusively in China. (A cautionary, albeit purely German example is the promotion of CFRP development: The Free State of Bavaria subsidized technology development with €50 million, but the plant was then built in Canada because energy costs are significantly lower there).

China's success results from several factors

Chinese success is based on the interplay of various factors: a large market with great openness to innovation (it is worth remembering that Agile Robots did not find any test customers in Germany, but did in China), the good education system (for a long time now, studies abroad have also been promoted in expensive Munich at the Technical University) and versatile political framework conditions (cluster policy, subsidies, lower tax rates). Not unmentioned is the greater ability/willingness of investors. In Germany, as is well known, pension funds are allowed to invest their money in Greek government bonds, but only to a very limited extent in start-ups. Because the latter would be too risky, according to lawmakers.

Are we networking? LinkedIn
-> To the Cobot group on LinkedIn(Link)

On my own account/ Advertising
The author of this blog is significantly involved in the AI/ robotics project Boost-Bot. He advises robotics companies and investors on market (entry)/ business development and funding/subsidies. More about him can be found here.