Jaguar Cars originally got its start as the Swallow Sidecar company, building motorcycle sidecars before expanding into the kinds of cars that built the company we know today. Now it appears the Tata Motors-owned Jaguar Land Rover is going back to its roots, as patent filings for a radical new electric hyperbike appear to be assigned to JLR rather than the startup whose name it bears.

From the moment that ARC Vehicles showed off its futuristic electric Vector bike last November, the company has been associated with Jaguar Land Rover. Its founder and CEO, Mark Truman, used to run JLR Special Operations and its Whitespace skunkworks, where the Arc was apparently conceived. JLR's InMotion Ventures is apparently a leading investor in the company. But according to patent applications uncovered by The Drive, the relationship goes even deeper: the premium automaker is listed as the assignee for some of Truman's most provocative inventions.

UPDATE: Truman tells The Drive that ARC's initial intellectual property was developed while he worked at JLR, but that his new company enjoys a royalty-free license for these patents which formed part of JLR's investment in the startup. ARC has subsequently developed more intellectual property that belongs to them, so we'll keep an eye out for that. In the meantime, stay tuned for an upcoming episode of Merge Now that will provide a lot more detail about this exciting company and its fascinating bike.