The report also shows flatlining growth in patenting activity for legacy products like the internal combustion engine and other fossil fuel-based systems.

The “WIPO Technology Trends: Future of Transportation” report identified more than 1.1 million inventions contained in published patents since 2000 that relate to the future of transportation – or technologies linked to sustainability and digitalization megatrends, such as green fuels and smart, interconnected transport systems.

The compound annual growth rate through 2023 was 11%, more than double that in growth for all published patents around the world - underscoring the importance of the transportation sector that accounts for 6-12% of GDP in many countries and about 23% of total energy-related carbon emissions each year.

The largest area of growth in patenting is related to sustainable propulsion – like batteries for electric vehicles or hydrogen fuel cells – part of the effort to ensure that people and goods are moved around in a cleaner, more climate-friendly fashion.

Full Reprot: https://www.wipo.int/publications/en/details.jsp?id=4774