IP Review Autumn 2017
7 The range of subject matter for which patent protection is being sought in the HMD domain varies greatly, as might be expected. For example, Microsoft has a number of filings related to the actual headgear, including an “eye relief adjustment mechanism” and a “mixed reality headset” which broadly describes a head mounted device with a transparent screen. Elsewhere there are patent applications for “grasping virtual objects” and “tracking hand/body poses”. Magic Leap is active in similar areas, but distinguishes itself from the competition due to its fundamentally different way of delivering AR to a user. Hence, we see filings from Magic Leap for innovations in iris imaging, Fresnel projection, diffraction gratings, and eyelid shape estimation, which have all evolved from its activities in the area of light field technology. On the mobile device side, Google has been one of the largest contributors to increasing numbers of patent filings in the USA. This could be attributed to the development of its Tango platform. Up until 2013, Qualcomm was also a major filer of AR-related patents, which may have been related to its Vuforia mobile AR software development kit. Since then Qualcomm’s AR-related filings have since dropped off, perhaps as a result of the sale of Vuforia to PTC. This patent filing data only crudely relates to “augmented reality” patent filings, and so does not necessarily capture some of the fundamental enabling technologies driving the mobile device AR domain forward such as AR-centric chips that are being developed by Qualcomm, AMD, Intel and Nvidia, as well as general developments in smartphone hardware that may not necessarily have been explicitly directed towards “augmented reality” at the time of patent filings. Interestingly, there are very few recent filings from end-application developers such as Niantic, which may either be due to the current innovation trend being placed in other areas, or the difficulties inherent in patenting innovations in software. Geographical spread of innovation Taking a geographical view, priority patent filings for AR-related technology here have soared in China in recent years, being led by Chinese smartphone manufacturer Oppo. Further AR-related filings come from Huawei and Lenovo, indicating that China may be helping to drive the growth of the mobile device domain of AR. South Korea saw surges in 2010 and 2013 which were also led by telecoms companies such as Samsung and LG, as well as the likes of Hyundai, which has been working on a mobile phone application to act as an AR user’s manual for their cars. Meanwhile, Japan has seen a relatively static level of AR-related filings over the last several years, but is in fact home to a handful of companies working in this area. Some of the top filers include Sony, Canon and Seiko Epson, which are all working in the field of HMDs, and Nintendo, which has been working to include AR applications on its 3DS gaming console. Magic Leap has also made some filings there in the last few years. Conclusions The AR industry has recently seen large amounts of investment and high market growth predictions, with the mobile device domain leading the trend. The HMD field follows closely as it begins to flourish towards commercialisation for use in a handful of new industries. The increasing amount of innovation in AR technologies is reflected in the corresponding surge in priority patent filings, especially in the HMD domain. Although it is difficult to pinpoint what is happening using patent filings alone, we can infer from the data that smartphone and related hardware manufacturers are supporting the growth of mobile device AR, by beginning to provide the hardware and platforms for more AR-capable smartphones. This will enable application developers to begin to create a new generation of exciting AR content. US innovators lead the way, but China is ramping up investment and patent filings apace. John-Paul Rooney jprooney@withersrogers.com To find out more contact Rajan Chauhan rchauhan@withersrogers.com
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