Intellectual Property Strategy
Basic Policy for Intellectual Property
Meidensha Corporation has created the following basic policy upon which we base all intellectual property (IP) activities with the goal of actively acquiring and utilizing IP that contributes toward management and business strategies and mitigating IP-related risk. The policy pertains to:
- Creation and attainment of rights for IP that contributes to freer business operations, facilitates market superiority and bolsters corporate value
- Contributions to the realization of a carbon-neutral society through utilization of IP related to environmental technologies
- Respect for third-party IP rights and appropriate protection and strategic utilization of Meidensha IP
Intellectual property strategy
With the aim of responding to changing corporate management and business environments while also pursuing challenges aimed at the creation of new value, we strive to strengthen collaborations among business and development units through IP activities.
1 Further enhancement of strategic IP activities and respect for others’ IP rights
For purposes of increasing opportunities to make use of IP rights, the business units, development units and Intellectual Property Division collaborate in their pursuit of deeper-reaching IP activities in order to strengthen acquisitions of patents related to technological strengths which bolster market superiority, environmental technologies, and similar. Through these efforts, the Company strives to protect our products, establish barriers to entry, and differentiate our products and services from the competition in order to further enhance our strategic IP activities. In addition, we respect other parties’ IP rights and ensure no incursion on those rights in all of our business activities. To this end, we conduct investigations into others’ rights when developing and providing products and services.
2 IP activities for purposes of realizing a carbon-neutral society
Meidensha registers its environmental technologies and related IP rights on WIPO GREEN, a platform operated by the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) for purposes of promoting environmental technology utilization. Through these efforts, we hope to contribute to the realization of a carbon-neutral society through IP usage.
3 Intellectual property activity organization
A Patent Manager working on intellectual property activities is assigned to each technology department. The Intellectual Property Department and Patent Managers work together on intellectual property activities. Each technology department formulates an Intellectual Property Activity Plan reflecting its R&D Plan, and uses it to guide its work on intellectual property activities.
4 IP education and awareness-raising
For purposes of encouraging in-house inventions and designs, the Company has established an incentive program and in-house commendation program to recognize outstanding employee-created inventions and results. Additionally, we incorporate education and awareness-raising for IP activities into our business operations to help employees acquire IP-related knowledge and skills.
Trend in Shares of ownership of domestic and overseas rights
The chart below shows the trend in the Company’s share of ownership of patent rights and design rights inside and outside Japan.
Meidensha is working to gain a degree of freedom for our overseas business activities by adding to the number of overseas rights we hold as our business grows overseas.
