Since Canon regards intellectual property rights as vital to supporting business development, the Company is devoted to developing organizational structures and rules for not only protecting its own intellectual property, but also respecting the rights of third-parties.
Canon has engaged in proactive research and development since the time of its foundation, and has been highly successful as an R&D-oriented company in creating new markets and new customer segments by developing products that incorporate proprietary technologies. This historical background underpins the company’s belief that the results of R&D activities are products and intellectual property rights. Canon clearly believes that the purpose of intellectual property activities is to support business development, which includes entering new areas to diversify its business, and diversifying and developing production and marketing on a global scale. In fact, every aspect of its business activities is promoted with an awareness of effective utilization of intellectual property rights. Partnerships with other companies and outside research institutes, such as cross-licensing and joint research projects, are some of those activities.
We have devised and implemented protective safeguards and policies to guard against counterfeit products and other forms of intellectual property infringement that pose a threat to our business. At the same time, we have established product development regulations and other clearly stated rules, and conduct searches on third-party rights from the R&D stage in order to ensure the intellectual property rights of other companies are respected and that our products do not infringe upon any of those rights.
In this way, Canon is aiming to contribute to the healthy development of industry as an R&D-oriented company, not only by protecting its own intellectual property, but also by respecting the intellectual property rights of other companies, organizations and individuals, and handling any related issues in an appropriate manner.
Research and development activities at Canon
Basic Policy on Intellectual Property Activities
In order to proactively protect its own intellectual property rights and to respect those of others, Canon asks its employees participating in R&D “to formulate patents (invention proposals) rather than reports,” and “to read patent publications rather than research literature.” Employees are encouraged to put these requests into practice in conjunction with their daily research and development activities.
Formulating an invention proposal involves comparing one’s own R&D activities with prior art technologies, objectively understanding them, systematically summarizing related technologies, and progressing toward acquisition of a patent (intellectual property). On one hand, patent publications as technological information provide background on unresolved technical issues in relevant fields as well as viewpoints on potential solutions. Patent publications also give information on prior art technologies, competitor activities in relevant fields, and trends. On the other hand, patent publications as information on intellectual property rights alert us to the existence of rights holders we need to be aware of in the course of our business development.
At Canon, we have established a corporate culture that constantly spurs higher development objectives, with each and every researcher recognizing and acutely sensing the significance of intellectual property issues.
The integration of society in a network has escalated with the use and expansion of Internet technologies. The functions of individual machines and terminals are being superseded by the value of solution services provided by network devices.
In this environment, Canon is moving its focus from inventions centered on the conventional areas of machinery and devices in pursuit of ideas and inventions geared toward generation of client-based solutions. Furthermore, while carrying out the invention of machinery and devices necessary for delivery of such solutions, we are focusing on intellectual property rights from a new standpoint.
