The United States Patent and Trademark Office awarded Toyota more patents than any other automaker in 2020, according to an annual ranking by the Intellectual Property Owners Association (IPO).

Toyota’s engineers and scientists were granted 2,819 patents in 2020, up 4% from 2019 and far outpaced any other automaker in the US, the company said in a statement.

The Japanese automaker continues to invest heavily in its research and development pipeline and has received more than 1,400 patents related to autonomous vehicle technology since 2003.

Every hour, Toyota claims to invest over USD1 million in emerging technologies globally. It has invested over USD1 billion in R&D related to automated vehicles and robotics since 2017.

“We are pleased to have expanded our patents across a wide range of advanced technology fields over the last year and especially proud of the incredible accomplishments of our team members,” Frederick Mau, intellectual property counsel and director of patent licensing for Toyota Motor North America, said.

“Innovation across Toyota is driving our transition to a mobility company, and Toyota’s leading patent portfolio is one important measure of that progress along with our investments in research, collaboration and partnerships,” he said.