Founded by industry veterans Chris Urmson, J. Andrew Bagnell, and Sterling Anderson, Aurora’s mission is to make transportation safer, more accessible, and less expensive.
Aurora( currently valued at $1.1 billion dollars) is building Aurora Driver, a technology stack that fits into existing vehicles and networks whether that’s a rider hailing cab of Uber or a truck carrying goods across the country.
Below we have for you key statistics and highlights of Aurora patents. If you want to know more about the technology protected in its patents, head over to the analysis here: What Technologies are Covered by Aurora Innovation Patents?
How many patents does Aurora have?
Aurora has filed a total of 108 patents globally. These patents belong to 36 unique patent families. Out of 108 patents, 95 patents are active.
How many Aurora patents are Alive/Dead?
Worldwide Patents
Patent Families
How Many Patents did Aurora File Every Year?
Are you wondering why there is a drop in patent filing for the last two years? It is because a patent application can take up to 18 months to get published. Certainly, it doesn’t suggest a decrease in the patent filing.
How Many Patents did Aurora File in Different Countries?
What Technologies are Covered by Aurora Patents?
The chart below distributes patents filed by Aurora in different countries based on the technology protected in patents. It also represents the markets where Aurora thinks it’s important to protect particular technology inventions.
Where are Research Centers of Aurora Located?
R&D Focus: How Aurora Research Focus Changed Over the Years?
10 Best Aurora Patents
US7742152B2 is the most popular patent in the Aurora portfolio. It has received 26 citations so far from companies like FEV, Bridger Photonics, and DSCG Solutions Inc.
Below is the list of the 10 most cited patents of Aurora
| Publication Number | Citation Count |
| US7742152B2 | 26 |
| US10235601B1 | 16 |
| WO2018144853A1 | 11 |
| WO2018102188A1 | 9 |
| WO2018102190A1 | 8 |
| US10036812B2 | 8 |
| US20190317219A1 | 5 |
| WO2019014177A1 | 5 |
| US20200210777A1 | 3 |
| US20200132850A1 | 3 |
Which Companies are using Aurora Patents to Advance their Research?
If patents of a company receive a lot of citations, it implies their technology is being followed and incrementally innovated by the citing companies. It also indicates that citing companies are working on similar and closely related technologies.
The top-cited technologies in the Aurora patent portfolio are Lidar. Microsoft, Raytheon, and Nissan as the top forward citing companies.
| Company | Number of Patents |
| Microsoft | 3 |
| Raytheon | 2 |
| Nissan | 2 |
| Tesla Inc | 1 |
| Disney Enterprises Inc | 1 |
| Zte | 1 |
| Nvidia | 1 |
How many patent applications were rejected due to Aurora patents?
Examiners at the USPTO used 5 Aurora patents in 12 rejections (35 USC § 102 or 35 USC § 103 types). Below is the distribution of the number of blocked patent applications vs the technology cluster of Aurora patents.
Count of 102 and 103 Type Rejections based on Aurora Patents
Top Aurora Patents used in Rejecting Most Patent Applications
| Patent Number | Count of Rejected Applications |
| US10235601B1 | 7 |
| US10401495B2 | 2 |
| US20190317219A1 | 1 |
| US20190370614A1 | 1 |
| US7742152B2 | 1 |