一项周四发布的研究显示，尽管中国在无人机专利申请数量上占据优势，但中美企业在下一代无人机专利的质量竞争中势均力敌。
Chinese and US firms are “neck-and-neck” in the quality battle for the next generation of drone patents, despite China having a lead in volume, a study published on Thursday shows.
根据理律（LexisNexis）发布的报告，2024年中国企业的无人机专利申请量占全球总量的44%，而美国企业占17%。然而，从价值衡量来看，美国无人机专利的价值与中国持平，这意味着在理律计算的技术全球专利资产总价值中，两国大致处于均势。
Chinese companies accounted for 44 per cent of the world’s drone patent filings in 2024, against 17 per cent for American firms, according to a report published by LexisNexis. Measured by value, however, US drone patents were on a par with China’s, leaving the two countries roughly even in total global patent asset value for the technology, as calculated by LexisNexis.
报告显示，总部位于深圳的全球行业领导者大疆创新（DJI）在专利申请方面的主导地位也在减弱，其仅占行业专利资产总量的4%，仅略高于波音和亚马逊等美国企业。
DJI, the Shenzhen-based global industry leader, has also been losing its dominance in patent filings, holding only 4 per cent of the industry’s total patent assets, barely ahead of US firms such as Boeing and Amazon, according to the report.
相比之下，2018年底，大疆曾持有行业约24%的专利，这一比例超过了前十名其他所有公司的总和。
This compares with roughly 24 per cent of the industry’s total patents held by DJI at the end of 2018, which was more than all the other companies in the top 10 combined.
报告称：“自那以后，该公司似乎让其大部分专利失效。”报告补充说，造成这一现象的原因可能包括美国对无人机进口限制趋严、大疆为聚焦于其最强防御性专利而进行的专利精简，或是该公司战略转向将部分技术作为商业秘密而非通过专利进行保护。
“The company seems to have allowed the bulk of its patents to lapse since that peak,” the report said, adding that this could be caused by factors including tighter US restrictions on drone imports, DJI’s own patent pruning to focus on its strongest defensive patents, or the company’s strategic shift towards protecting selected technologies as trade secrets instead of via patents.
理律知识产权解决方案业务董事总经理兼首席商务官马可·里希特（Marco Richter）表示：“随着大疆从专利领域撤退，下一代无人机初创企业将迎来广阔空间，以推动专利创新并确立市场领导地位。”
“As DJI retreats from the patent field, the space is wide open for the next generation of drone start-ups to drive patent innovation and market leadership,” said Marco Richter, managing director and chief commercial officer for LexisNexis Intellectual Property Solutions.
里希特指出：“虽然中国在专利申请数量上显然占据优势，但质量之争最能预测新兴技术领域的未来领导者，而这场竞赛目前正难分伯仲。”
“While China is clearly winning on the volume of patents filed, it’s the quality battle that best predicts future leaders in emerging technologies, and that race is neck-and-neck,” Richter said.
“赢得这场创新竞赛的公司——以及国家——将在未来数十年催生掌控天空的新产业。”报告援引Teal Group的市场数据称，2023年至2032年，民用无人航空系统市场规模预计将增至1500亿美元，同期军用市场规模可能达到1870亿美元，形势利害重大。
“The companies – and countries – that win this innovation race will build new industries that control the skies over the coming decades.”The stakes were high as the market for civil unmanned aerial systems was expected to add up to a total of US$150 billion in the period from 2023 to 2032, while the military market could be worth US$187 billion during the same time frame, the report said, citing market data from Teal Group.
中美之间争夺技术主导权的竞赛几乎没有任何放缓迹象。美国联邦通信委员会（FCC）主席布伦丹·卡尔上月早些时候表示，FCC正考虑是否禁止继续销售和进口某些此前已获批准的无人机型号，将此前宣布针对新型号的进口禁令进一步扩大。
The contest for technology supremacy between China and the US has shown little sign of slowing down. The US Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Chairman Brendan Carr said earlier last month that the FCC was considering whether to prohibit the continued marketing and import of certain previously authorised drone models, extending a previously announced import ban on new models.
在LexisNexis评选的全球十大创新无人机初创企业榜单中，中国有两家公司上榜——总部位于深圳的道通智能名列第一，总部位于北京的零零智能排名第五；美国则有四家公司上榜，Skydio、Valqari、Anduril和Zipline分别位居第二、第三、第六和第九。日本、以色列、瑞士和瑞典则各有一家公司入榜。
Among the world’s top 10 innovative drone start-ups ranked by LexisNexis, China has two – Shenzhen-based Autel Robotics at No 1 and Beijing-based Zero Zero Robotics in fifth spot – while the US has four, with Skydio, Valqari, Anduril and Zipline taking the second, third, sixth and ninth spots, respectively. Japan, Israel, Switzerland and Sweden completed the top 10 with one firm each.