Intellectual Property
Direction for intellectuial property policies
The azbil Group regards intellectual property as a source of corporate value and aims to achieve sustainable growth through technological innovation and a reinforcement of our brand power.
In today's business environment, the value of intangible assets, including intellectual property, is rising and is increasingly becoming an important element in business activities.
Against this backdrop, and in light of the revised Corporate Governance Code, the azbil Group is promoting an intellectual property strategy to more effectively utilize our intangible assets and increase our corporate value.
Intellectual property strategy
The azbil Group is promoting the following intellectual property strategies to develop both our core and growth businesses as defined in our medium-term management plan.
Proactive intellectual property strategy
In technology and product development, we predict future advances in automation technology, clearly define the future vision derived from that, and utilize intellectual property information to verify business hypotheses (IP landscape analysis). Through this initiative, we aim to achieve innovative growth and build sustainable competitiveness.
Defensive intellectual property strategy
We are working to stabilize our business foundation by protecting our intellectual property rights in the continuation of existing business areas and in the expansion of related areas.
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The azbil Group's intellectual property activities are promoted in close collaboration with our business divisions and research and development divisions so that they may contribute to value creation for the entire azbil Group. We analyze not only intellectual property information and other public sources, but also that of our competitors, and we are striving to build and maintain a high-quality intellectual property portfolio that maximizes enterprise value from a technology lifecycle and market competitiveness perspective. This will enable us to achieve sustainable growth.
Human resource development
To advance our intellectual property activities, we are focusing on developing personnel with expertise in both intellectual property and business. We aim to enhance the skills of our intellectual property personnel by supporting them in obtaining certifications such as the AIPE-certified Intellectual Property Analyst. At the same time, we focus on fostering technical talent by welcoming individuals from the research and developmente divisions and providing training to strengthen their expertise in IP landscape analysis.
We also actively provide intellectual property education to the entire azbil Group so that each employee understands the importance of intellectual property and is able to implement strategic intellectual property activities.
We provide knowledge and skills tailored to each job depending on the stage of that employee's employment, from new employees to managers, and hold in-house seminars with experts we've invited to help us keep up with the latest trends in the field of intellectual property.
Respecting the intellectual property rights of others
Before launching products or services, we conduct Freedom to Operate (FTO) analysis in advance to ensure that our offerings do not infringe on the intellectual property rights of others, thereby ensuring the safety and reliability of our business.
Measures Against Counterfeit Products
The azbil Group is enhancing its measures against counterfeit products both domestically and internationally to safeguard our brands and technologies. These initiatives contribute to the safety and reliability for our customers and help protect the integrity of our business operations.