Over the 2011-2017 period, Samsung Electronics held the most patents at 624, trailed by US IT giant Intel Corp. with 590.

US chipmaker Qualcomm Inc. held 361, followed by Samsung's smaller South Korean rival LG Electronics Inc. at 348 and German engineering firm Bosch with 343, the EPO data showed.

The figures indicate information and communication technology firms made more efforts to secure self-driving technologies compared with traditional vehicle manufacturers.

Among the top 10 players in the list, only three firms -- Bosch, Toyota Motor Corp. and Continental AG -- were related to the motor industry.

Europe accounted for 37.2 percent of the patents, followed by the United States with 33.7 percent. South Korea accounted for 7 percent, falling behind Japan's 13 percent but standing higher than China's 3 percent.

According to separate data compiled by the Korea Institute of Intellectual Property, Hyundai Motor Co. filed the highest number of related patents over the 2008-2017 period in the country at 981, followed by Hyundai Mobis Co. with 686 and Mando Corp. with 564. LG Electronics and the Electronics and Telecommunications Research Institute posted 293 and 238, respectively. (Yonhap)