Konica Minolta 2008 Annual Report Download - page 39

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36
5. Business Contributions of Patents and Other Intellectual Property
(1) Patent Portfolio Contributions to Business
Konica Minolta believes that seeking and obtaining patents to the fruits of R&D helps ensure the
superiority of each business.
We maintain strong patent positions by prioritizing technologies to expand and dominate
business areas and by systematically pursuing innovations and acquiring patent rights. We also
choose the right countries in which to apply for patents and maintain policies to swiftly obtain
protection. Our domestic and international patent initiatives contribute to our businesses.
We held 6,450 patents in Japan and 5,852 in the United States as of March 31, 2008. The
Business Technologies and Optics segments accounted for around 60% of our patents in both
countries, where our patent numbers have surged since the fiscal year ended March 2006.
In the Japan Patent Annual Report 2008, Konica Minolta Holdings ranked 30th in 2007, with
662 patents granted. Konica Minolta Business Technologies was 74th, with 307. Our own
research shows that we obtained 1,071 patents that year, for a ranking of 19th.
In the United States, a key country, we again rose up the patent filing and grant rankings in
2007, placing 40th overall and 15th among Japanese companies.
Estimated Group Ranking in U.S. Patents Granted
Calendar year 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007
Patents Granted 380 404 316 497 509
Ranking (Est.) 55 50 56 44 40
Note: Estimate of aggregate ranking of Konica Minolta Group companies based on data compiled by the Intellectual
Property Owners Association.
(2) Business Contributions of Other Intellectual Property
The Konica Minolta brand is an invaluable Group asset. We created a brand management unit
because exiting the photographic film and digital camera business made maintaining and improv-
ing our brand image even more important. The Intellectual Property Center seeks and maintains
trademark protection in more than 200 countries to safeguard our brand.
The center also works with businesses to combat rising product counterfeiting in Japan
and abroad.
In the design arena, in the fiscal year ended March 2008 we won Good Design Awards, which
are sponsored by the Japan Industrial Design Promotion Organization, for the bizhub
C650/C550/C451, color MFPs based on a new design concept that launched in 2007, and the
REGIUS Unitea (marketed as ImagePilot outside Japan), a next-generation multi-unit for medical
clinics. These products attest to the success of our efforts to enhance the Konica Minolta brand
image through product design.
Proportion of Japanese
Patents by Business Segment
Business Technologies
Optics
Medical and Graphic Imaging
Sensing
Industrial Inkjet
Shared Basic Technologies,
Leading-Edge Technologies
Photo Imaging
4%
1%
56%
9%
11%
6%
13%
Proportion of U.S. Patents
by Business Segment
4%
1% 48%
11%
9%
9%
18%