Intellectual Property Division
In order to survive in the globalizing world, Japan is aiming to become a nation based on intellectual property. Our company must defend ourselves by utilizing intellectual property as the bulkhead against the wave of competition from everywhere in the world. The bulkhead should be as high as and as thick as possible. That means, we must have as many patents as possible, which are as strong as possible. In addition, we must always obtain new intellectual rights since each intellectual right has an expiring period. Otherwise, the company will decline. The intellectual Property Division is responsible for the following activities in close collaboration with R&D for the great future of the company:
- On the research and development stage: finding out patentable technologies from the daily activities of R&D, and reinforcing these technologies as legal rights.
- On the commercialization stage: investigating competitors' activities, managing trademarks, and acting against intellectual right infringements.
- Contributing to the extended reproduction of intellectual property through investing incoming royalties again for R&D activities.
Total number of intellectual property rights we own
(As of December 31 2015):
Japanese patents:664
Foreign patents: 257
Japanese trademarks: 115
Foreign trademarks: 52
