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1. Patent Rights
Patent rights support technological innovation. Recognizing these rights as an impor-
tant corporate asset, we are working to assemble a global patent portfolio centered on
patents in Japan.
We strategically channel our R&D investment into priority technology fields and
work to acquire patents for not only basic technologies in these fields but also technolo-
gies in peripheral areas. For example, in the server field, home to our mainstay products,
every year we file for around 500 patents in and outside Japan based on a wide variety
of developed technologies. A similar pattern can be seen in software, where we annu-
ally submit roughly 500 patent applications worldwide through regular efforts to iden-
tify patentable inventions.
PATENT APPLICATIONS IN JAPAN IN 2007
1Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd. 4,765
2 Toshiba Corporation 3,423
3Ricoh Company, Ltd. 2,813
4Hitachi, Ltd. 2,726
5 Canon Inc. 2,655
6Sony Corporation 2,641
7Seiko Epson Corporation 2,628
8DENSO Corporation 2,611
9Fujitsu Limited 2,511
10 Honda Motor Co., Ltd. 2,466
11 Mitsubishi Electric Corporation 2,381
12 Sharp Corporation 2,005
13 Toyota Motor Corporation 1,849
14 Nissan Motor Co., Ltd. 1,720
15 FUJI FILM Corporation 1,680
16 Matsushita Electric Works, Ltd. 1,387
17 SANYO Electric Co., Ltd. 1,369
18 NTT Corporation 1,201
19 Fuji Xerox Co., Ltd. 1,071
20 Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd. 976
PATENT APPLICATIONS IN THE US IN 2007
1 IBM Corporation 3,148
2Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd. 2,725
3 Canon Inc. 1,987
4Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd. 1,941
5 Intel Corporation 1,865
6Microsoft Corporation 1,637
7 Toshiba Corporation 1,549
8Sony Corporation 1,481
9Micron Technology, Inc. 1,476
10
Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P.
1,470
11 Hitachi, Ltd. 1,397
12 Fujitsu Limited 1,315
13 Seiko Epson Corporation 1,208
14 General Electric Company 914
15 Infineon Technologies AG 856
16 DENSO Corporation 803
17 Texas Instruments Incorporated 752
18 Ricoh Company, Ltd. 728
19 Honda Motor Co., Ltd. 719
20 Siemens AG 700
Solutions
Device Solutions
11%
19%
R&D and Corporate
Total
94,670
patents
37%
FUJITSU PATENTS BY
BUSINESS SEGMENT
Fiscal 2007
OUR GLOBAL PATENT PORTFOLIO
(Years ended March 31)
Europe
Japan
Asia/Oceania
North America
Source: Fujitsu survey based on Japan Patent Office data
(Number of issued patents)
Source: IFI CLAIMS Patent Services (Number of issued patents)
(Number
of patents
held)
2. Exercising Patent Rights
We conclude cross-licensing agreements with prominent firms
worldwide aimed at preserving a high degree of business lati-
tude. On a for-fee basis, we also make available basic technolo-
gies when we believe this will foster broader use of our
technology compared with commercializing it on our own. This
policy of opening our wide range of basic technology research
for potential use in the business activities and technologies of
other firms applies even in fields in which Fujitsu does not
directly conduct operations. We refer to this as “technology mar-
keting,” and based on these marketing efforts, Fujitsu has con-
cluded more than 500 licensing agreements.
3. Respecting Third Parties’ Rights
The impact of infringing upon the rights of third parties goes
beyond having to pay significant fees. In the worst case, it could
have a major economic impact on our company due to the loss
of business opportunities and other issues. In addition, it could
prevent us from providing products and services, thereby
severely inconveniencing our customers. We are fostering a
culture at Fujitsu that respects the patent rights of other com-
panies, as well as creating an environment that allows all our
engineers to utilize the ATMS/IR system* to efficiently and effec-
tively research patents held by other companies.
* An ASP-based service which searches laid-open patent applications and pros-
ecution history data provided by the Japan Patent Office.
33%
Products
2006 2007 2008
0
5,000
10,000
15,000
053
ANNUAL REPORT 2008FUJITSU LIMITED
INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY