Intellectual Property

With the recent advancements in electrification and automated driving technologies as well as the emergence of software-defined vehicles (SDVs), cars are evolving into a product that centers on software, and this has increased opportunities for collaboration with companies outside of the automotive industry. To achieve sustainable growth amid these changes occurring in the business environment, intellectual properties (IP), which protect and leverage our technologies and ideas, are becoming even more important.

Since our founding, we have pursued the development of environmentally friendly technologies and established a robust patent portfolio, thereby protecting our IP. Looking ahead, we will pursue offensive IP strategies that create new value by combining multiple IP assets, aiming for value co-creation with other companies through collaborative activities and efforts to promote standardization.

DENSO has adopted the goal of “realizing IP-focused management through offensive and defensive IP strategies” as its IP Vision. Guided by this vision, we are working to enhance the IP literacy of all employees and aim to naturally incorporate IP utilization strategies in our business strategies. Specifically, we have organized our IP activities around three pillars: “strategy formulation,” “governance,” and “internal and external dialogue,” and are strengthening them accordingly.

For the direction of our technological development, we are focusing on evolving mobility, strengthening fundamental technologies, and creating new value, which serve as drivers for the Company’s growth. By formulating and executing IP strategies in accordance with the business environment and technological characteristics of each of these fields, we aim to establish a sustainable competitive edge while taking on the challenge of new business creation.

In growth areas such as SDVs, electrification, and automated driving, we are leveraging our patent portfolio and extensive know-how in order to maximize the value of our technologies. In mobility domains, we will roll out IP in areas such as sensing and energy management technologies through licensing and alliances and quantitatively evaluate the level at which patents contribute to business growth using our patent utilization rate. For fundamental technologies, we will strategically utilize software IP spanning functions from vehicle control systems to communications and security, along with semiconductor IP that combines open and closed strategies to adapt to rapidly evolving markets. For creating new value, we have been making use of IP landscapes to promote strategies that incorporate IP from the business concept phase. We also established “ratio of strategy adoption” as a KPI. In these ways, we will strive to realize sustainable growth and contribute to a sustainable society through our IP.

Establishing IP Portfolio and Frameworks for Patent Data Disclosure
At DENSO, in addition to strengthening our strategy formulation for each individual business, it is important that we build an IP portfolio from a Companywide perspective based on value creation stories and technological development policies aimed at resolving social issues. By clarifying the causative connection (value creation path) between our IP activities, which generate important IP through our focus on technological development, and the value we deliver to society, and by examining our patent value score for each type of value we create, we can see steady growth in our patent evaluation score compared with 2014, with the score approximately doubling in the green domain and growing roughly 1.5 times in the peace of mind domain.

DENSO has been holding IP strategy meetings for each business and has established a new Companywide Strategy Meeting that examines not only patents but a broad range of IP. Through this meeting, we will discuss matters such as IP structure, budget, and personnel, enabling us to engage in more effective IP strategies moving forward.

Also, we have adopted the unique KPIs of ratio of patent utilization and ratio of strategy adoption, which help us visualize and strengthen the connections between IP and our businesses. By doing so, we are stepping up efforts on a Companywide basis to achieve our targets.

To realize IP-focused management, we are working to enhance the level of IP understanding across the entire Company, including not only personnel engaged in IP-related fields but also executives, business strategy planners, sales staff, and members of our purchasing divisions. We are also working to enhance IP literacy so that any employee of the Company can incorporate IP-based perspectives into business strategies in a natural way.

Internally, we are increasing the opportunities for strategic discussion, introducing IP strategy activities at in-house technological exhibitions, and offering IP educational activities to all employees on a regular basis. In these ways, we are ensuring our employees acquire basic IP knowledge. Furthermore, we believe that external dialogue with third parties can provide us with important insights that help us create even better IP strategies. To leverage IP as an important management asset, we will continue to deepen internal and external dialogue as we work to realize IP-focused management.

In addition to discussing IP strategies for each business, DENSO holds various meetings to deliberate on the planning and implementation of IP investment strategies from the perspective of Companywide IP management. Through these discussions, we aim to demonstrate and increase DENSO’s corporate value by integrating management and IP activities.

DENSO views problems related to other companies’ IP rights as equally important as major quality problems that impact its own corporate value. From the development stage, the Company examines the IP rights of other companies and has clearly defined internal rules, for which strict compliance is observed, to ensure that its products and services do not infringe on the IP rights of third parties.

DENSO takes appropriate and lawful steps to combat infringement of its IP rights by third parties. These measures are actively taken not only for patents but also, for example, against counterfeit products.

There are many quality-related problems with counterfeit products, including with imitation trademarks, and there is the possibility that purchasing such a product in the belief that it was manufactured by DENSO could be detrimental to the purchaser. Since 2005, the Company has been engaging in ongoing activities to detect counterfeit products in cooperation with government and customs agencies as well as its overseas locations in North America, Europe, and China.

In light of the ongoing changes in the added value of automobiles as a form of mobility, DENSO has been expanding its contribution from the traditional areas of mobility and Monozukuri to the greater area of society, while accelerating its technology development from an environmental, safety, and reliability point of view. By utilizing the IP accumulated through these efforts, we will help resolve the issues of society and further increase our corporate value.