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Seiko Epson Annual Report 2006
22
Patent Strategies
■ Patents Filed in Korea (2005)
Koninklijke Philips Electronics N.V. 1,569
Sony Corporation 1,009
Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd.
754
Microsoft Corporation 732
Seiko Epson Corporation 664
Fujitsu Limited 587
InterDigital Technology Corporation
462
Sanyo Electric Co., Ltd. 414
Toshiba Corporation 370
Thomson Corporation 351
Source: Korean Intellectual Property Office
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■ Patents Filed in Taiwan (2005)
Koninklijke Philips Electronics N.V. 848
Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd. 710
Intel Corporation 497
Sony Corporation 496
International Business
Machines Corporation 449
Seiko Epson Corporation 440
Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd.
426
Sanyo Electric Co., Ltd. 326
Toshiba Corporation 323
InterDigital Technology Corporation
318
Source: Taiwan Intellectual Property Office
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■ Patents Filed in China (2005)
Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd. 3,159
Koninklijke Philips Electronics N.V. 2,602
Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd.
2,530
Sony Corporation 1,456
International Business
Machines Corporation 1,213
LG Electronics Inc. 1,126
Toshiba Corporation 1,075
Samsung SDI Co., Ltd. 1,052
Seiko Epson Corporation 1,045
Canon, Inc. 915
Source: State Intellectual Property Office of the
People’s Republic of China
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■ Published Patents in Japan (2005)
Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd.
14,319
Canon Inc. 9,286
Seiko Epson Corporation 8,149
Toshiba Corporation 6,959
Sony Corporation 6,846
Toyota Motor Corporation 6,516
Ricoh Company, Ltd 6,353
Fuji Photo Film Co., Ltd. 5,405
Sharp Corporation 4,944
Hitachi, Ltd. 4,922
Mitsubishi Electric Corporation 4,288
Nissan Motor Co., Ltd. 3,932
Denso Corporation 3,816
Sanyo Electric Co., Ltd. 3,814
Fuji Xerox Co., Ltd. 3,550
Honda Motor Co., Ltd. 3,483
Olympus Corporation 2,797
Fujitsu Limited 2,627
Matsushita Electric Works, Ltd. 2,507
Nippon Telegraph and
Telephone Corporation 2,444
Source: Epson, compiled from date released by the
Japan Patent Office. Shared patents are equally divided.
Includes both published and republished patents.
Quality and Quantity in
Patent Filing
Epson actively files patents not only in
the U.S. and Japan, but in leading mar-
kets in Asia and the rest of the world. As
a result, Epson maintained its strong
position in global patent rankings in 2005,
ranking third in issued patents in Japan,
thirteenth in registered patents in the
U.S., and ninth among foreign
companies in patents filed in China.
Alongside this dynamic patent strat-
egy, Epson in 2005 initiated efforts for
improving intellectual property quality col-
lectively known as the Brilliant Patent (or
BP) program. Brilliant Patents refer to key
patents that competitors in Epson busi-
ness fields find they must inevitably use.
Each business has a target number of
BPs that it must acquire and take direct
advantage of in its business strategies.
The goal is to further enhance Epson’s
competitive edge, while independently
generating a consistent level of high
earnings in each business. Put differ-
ently, the aim is for intellectual property
to contribute more directly to earnings in
each business, providing definitive
support for achieving the goals of
Epson’s Creativity and Challenge 1000
mid-range business plan.
Epson’s patent strategies aim to secure and maintain a portfolio of intellectual properties in each
business and business domain that, in terms of both quality and substance, ranks among the top
in the industry.
■ U.S. Issued Patents (2005)
International Business
Machines Corporation 2,972
Canon Inc. 1,837
Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P.
1,801
Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd.
1,720
Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd. 1,645
Micron Technology, Inc. 1,561
Intel Corporation 1,551
Hitachi, Ltd. 1,293
Toshiba Corporation 1,288
Fujitsu Limited 1,168
Sony Corporation 1,149
General Electric Company 906
Seiko Epson Corporation 888
Infineon Technologies AG 804
Koninklijke Philips Electronics N.V. 767
Robert Bosch GmbH 758
Fuji Photo Film Co., Ltd. 755
Microsoft Corporation 746
Texas Instruments Incorporated 736
Honda Motor Co., Ltd. 730
Source: IFI Claims
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* Rankings for China, Korea and Taiwan are for overseas companies.