NEC 2015 Annual Report Download - page 51

Intellectual Property Strategy
The NEC Group owns approximately 65,000 patents worldwide, including
some 22,000 patents in Japan as of March 2015. The Company positions
intellectual property as important management resources for the NEC
Group’s business competitiveness and stability, and is working to
strengthen its intellectual property capability. Specifically, NEC is
concentrating on establishing a global patent portfolio, to support quickly
achieving an overseas sales ratio of 25% as targeted in “Mid-term
Management Plan 2015.” In such areas as SDN and energy in particular,
NEC is carrying out Group-wide strategic patent projects on a global basis
Moreover, to expand these types of initiatives globally, NEC is
moving ahead with R&D in the five regions globally including North
America, Europe, China, Singapore and Japan. We will leverage their
local advantages and accelerate the creation of new business by
initiating collaborations with these regions.
to obtain patents that are strong and used extensively.
Furthermore, NEC believes that participating in standardization
initiatives will help create and expand businesses, and will also contribute
to the stable offering of products and services. In addition to pursuing a
business model that utilizes standardization, NEC is engaged strategically
in standardization activities by actively participating in standards
organizations both in Japan and overseas. Also, as part of its external
engagements with intellectual property, NEC is actively pursuing licensing
activities to reduce business risks and expand business opportunities.
Through its R&D programs, NEC aims to contribute to
development of “Solutions for Society” as outlined in the “Mid-term
Management Plan 2015,” and to create new value to help realize “an
information society friendly to humans and the earth” described in
the NEC Group Vision 2017.
R&D Achievements in Fiscal 2015
l Developed technology to observe and measure internal deterioration of a structure through video
Developed the world’s first technology capable of measuring and estimating internal deterioration inside structures such as roads or bridges
based on video images of the surface taken by camera. Contributed to early detection of structural deterioration and more efficient repairs, and
reducing the cost of maintenance inspections.
l Developed software technology to integrate different types of networks to expand SDN usage
Developed the world’s first technology to enable service providers and telecommunications carriers to efficiently build and operate wide area
networks through integrated management of multiple types of different networks such as optical or wireless.
l Strengthened heterogeneous mixture learning technologies that automatically discover massive patterns hidden in Big Data
Developed new data analysis techniques to automate NEC’s heterogeneous mixture learning technology. Enabled high-speed, highly accurate
large-scale demand forecasts based on millions of target data, including sales forecasts by product and energy demand forecasts.
l Developed “Fingerprint of Things” recognition technology capable of identifying industrial products and parts through fine surface patterns
Developed the world’s first “Fingerprint of Things” recognition technology that enables instantaneous and highly accurate identification to
identify specific products and their respective manufacturers by using image recognition of fine patterns naturally generated on the surface of
industrial products or parts and matching these with cloud-based data. Application of this technology enables selection of optimum distribution
routes and ensures the authenticity of products without any special device or identification tags.
By Leveraging the No. 1/Only 1 Technologies We Create “Solutions for Society” in Collaboration with
Partners and Customers
Deliver solutions
Competitor
analysis, NEC
strategy
Solution prototype
Verify value with partners
and leading customers
Partners
(Technical cooperation)
Customers
(Knowledge/Verify)
Core competency
No.1/Only 1
technology
Seven themes for social value innovation
Create “Solutions for Society”
Customer
challenges
50
NEC Corporation
Annual Report 2015
Business Foundation to Support Value Creation