Speech Recognition: Technology & Patent Landscape

1 Speech recognition : Technology & Patent Landscape iRunway 2015 Page 2 of 36 Public Contents 1 Executive Summary .. 3 2 Introduction .. 5 Technology Overview .. 5 3 Patent Landscape and Analysis .. 7 Leading Patent Owners .. 9 Technology -wise Patent Distribution of Top Assignees .. 11 Seminal Patent Landscape .. 13 4 Application in Mobile Devices & Automobiles ..16 Speech recognition Technology in Mobile Devices .. 16 Patent Landscape of Mobile Device-Related Applications .. 16 Key Players in the Mobile Devices Sector.

2 17 Seminal Patents in Mobile Device Applications .. 19 Speech recognition Technology in Automobiles .. 21 Patent Landscape of Automobile-Related Applications .. 21 Key Players in the Automobile Sector .. 22 Seminal Patents in Automobile Applications .. 24 5 Litigation Trend in Patent Landscape ..26 6 Conclusion ..30 7 Glossary ..31 Technology Category .. 31 Mobile Device Application Categories .. 32 Automobile Application Categories .. 33 8 Authors ..35 Speech recognition : Technology & Patent Landscape iRunway 2015 Page 3 of 36 Public 1 Executive Summary The ability to interface with a machine using natural human language has fascinated the scientific world for many decades.

3 Recent virtual assistants such as Apple s Siri have demonstrated the promise of a comfortable future with Speech recognition and voice-enabled processes penetrating household and industrial applications. While the success rate so far in the world market has been negligible, this may soon change. Microsoft s Cortana, available in the Windows 10 for mobile phones, tablets and, importantly, desktop units may dramatically advance the virtual assistant experience, providing Microsoft with a significant edge over competitors.

4 Unlike previous virtual assistants, Cortana is now tailored to local languages, customs and cultures, and to the corresponding nuances of Speech . Researchers have struggled to build a platform that interprets and responds to voice commands with accuracy and efficiency. While Technology developers such as Nuance Communications have developed a large Speech recognition Technology Patent portfolio in recent years, Microsoft and others have focused on linguistics, building massive dictionaries of vocabulary through neural networks and cloud-based architecture.

5 It appears that linguistics may be the key to reducing processing time and providing a more seamless user experience. This research report examines Speech recognition Technology and its Patent Landscape in the market, providing an overview of key audio signal processing techniques and identifying the IP strengths and weaknesses of top companies. The report also provides in-depth analysis of two widely used Speech recognition applications mobile devices and automobiles. iRunway s analysis found 21,281 granted patents and major industry players such as Microsoft, Nuance Communications, AT&T and IBM lead the list of top Patent holders.

6 While Microsoft owns the largest Patent portfolio in linguistics Technology with 15% of the seminal, or strong, patents in this space, Nuance Communications dominates the recognition category with seminal patents. Sony owns of seminal patents in storage and transmission Technology . Another force of change will soon arrive as at least 172 seminal patents belonging to the leading 10 seminal Patent owners expire in 2016, bringing them into public domain. This will likely prompt a new wave of development in the Speech recognition domain with a dramatic impact on the application of this Technology .

7 This is likely to reduce licensing costs and make Speech recognition Technology more easily available to the larger market. Speech recognition : Technology & Patent Landscape iRunway 2015 Page 4 of 36 Public Mobile devices are emerging as commercially successful ubiquitous tools to perform multiple human activities through voice commands. iRunway s analysis found 3,209 patents related to application of Speech recognition Technology for mobile devices. AT&T, Nuance Communications, Microsoft, IBM and Google are the key Patent holders in this space.

8 Apple does not have a large Speech recognition Patent portfolio and it licenses patents from other industry leaders including Nuance that powers Siri. A growing market for smart vehicles has also bolstered the automobile industry into a key applicant of Speech recognition Technology . The analysis found 648 Speech recognition patents that were applicable to automotive and vehicular systems. Until the turn of the century, automobile manufacturers were relying heavily on Technology companies such as Nuance and Microsoft to implement Speech recognition functionalities in vehicles.

9 In recent times, Apple and Google have emerged as two major players vying for a large market share with their CarPlay and Android Auto Speech -controlled infotainment systems respectively. However, many auto manufacturers have begun developing these technologies in-house. Denso, General Motors and Honda are three leading Patent owners in this space. Other leading owners of patents in Speech -enabled communication, navigation, maneuver, data presentation and techniques to cancel environmental noise include Nuance, Microsoft, Alpine Electronics and AT&T.

10 Speech recognition : Technology & Patent Landscape iRunway 2015 Page 5 of 36 Public 2 Introduction Designing a system that mimics human behavior, particularly the capability of speaking naturally and responding interactively to spoken commands, has intrigued engineers and scientists for centuries. Today, Speech recognition has stepped into every realm, including mobile phones, telecommunications, healthcare, banking, Speech -controlled automobile maneuvering, Speech -based web browsing, robotics, virtual personal assistant, aviation, military, education, handicap aid, security, and media and entertainment to name a few.