Canon 2014 Annual Report Download - page 26

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2014 Top Ten U.S. Patent Holders by Company
Sony
CANON
Toshiba
Microsoft
QUALCOMM
Google
LG Electronics
Panasonic
IBM*
Samsung
Electronics
3,224
4,055
2,829
2,608
2,590
2,566
2,122
2,095
7,534
4,952
*IBM is an abbreviation for International Business Machines Corporation.
Source: Preliminary data released by IFI CLAIMS Patent Services, a U.S.
research company specialized in patent information
24 RESEARCH & DEVELOPMENT
Strengthening Our Global R&D Structure
Pursuing globalized diversification of its operations, Canon
is moving away from its existing structure, in which com-
petitive, technologically advanced products have been
made mostly in Japan. Today, we have established the foun-
dation of the Three Regional Headquarters management
system that leads to new businesses emerging from each
operation in Japan, the United States, and Europe.
In the United States, Canon has set up research insti-
tutes covering from basic research into unexplored fields
including healthcare to applied research on cutting-
edge technologies. In Europe, we will make further use of
existing R&D centers to advance R&D in new fields.
R&D Expenses and Patents
Canon is bolstering R&D activities to enable the ongo-
ing development of innovative products and services.
In the year under review, R&D expenses amounted to
¥309.0 billion, up 0.9%, or ¥2.7 billion, from the pre-
vious year. The ratio of R&D expenses to net sales was
8.3%. This focus on R&D activities has cemented Canon’s
Seeking to create a new Canon, the
Company is reinforcing an R&D structure
spanning Japan, the United States,
and Europe under the Three Regional
Headquarters management system. At
the same time, we are continuing to
tackle challenges to develop products for
professionals in unexplored fi elds.
Canon works to improve pathological diagnosis, which determines the presence and spread of cancer by observing shapes and interconnections
of human cells. We are conducting R&D on an imaging mass spectrometer with high spatial resolution and high sensitivity that can detect a mass
of molecules and reconstruct its spectrum to form an image, allowing users to identify the two-dimensional distribution of substances in tissues.