Automakers have increasingly doubled down on self-driving car technology in the past few years, with newer entrants like Tesla competing with established automakers toward the goal of developing fully autonomous vehicles. A series of patent acquisitions made by Uber this year emphasizes the importance of IP protection for establishing a foothold in the field of autonomous driving and indicates that companies have begun to see the growing litigation risk surrounding self-driving systems. Meanwhile, as the industry seems poised to explode, players outside the automotive sector have begun to enter the market. Intel’s August acquisition of Mobileye, a leader in artificial vision technology for autonomous vehicles, is a notable example of how important self-driving technology will be to the broader tech industry.