A number of puzzle-pieces in the self-driving vehicle space have fallen into place in the past week – moves that, cumulatively, imply that the initial battle lines are being drawn out between a handful of major players, in preparation for a drawn out conflict. Uber is naturally at the heart of the latest news, after two of its ongoing court cases each took turns for the worse from Uber’s perspective – rubbing more salt into the wounds of the company’s battered reputation. First up, the European Court of Justice received an advisory stating that Uber is not the technology company it claims to be, but is the transport company that everyone knows it to be. If such a ruling is…