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62 OLYMPUS 2008
Number and Ratio of Patents Held by Business Group
Corporate
Imaging Medical Life Industry- R&D
Systems Systems Science Related Center Total
Japan patents ........................................................................................ 1,985 2,451 668 203 1,060 6,367
% to total (%) ...................................................................................... 31 38 10 3 17 100
U.S. patents ........................................................................................... 1,383 951 401 155 777 3,667
% to total (%) ...................................................................................... 38 26 11 4 21 100
China patents ........................................................................................ 195 24 47 6 24 296
% to total (%) ...................................................................................... 66 8 16 2 8 100
Other patents ........................................................................................ 101 301 182 14 117 715
% to total (%) ...................................................................................... 14 42 25 2 16 100
Total ...................................................................................................... 3,664 3,727 1,298 378 1,978 11,045
% to total (%) ...................................................................................... 33 34 12 3 18 100
Contribution of the Patent Portfolio to Company Business
> Olympus actively pursues a policy of converting R&D results
into patented IP while strictly screening which technologies
to apply for patents. The achievements of this policy over
the past five years, broken down by country, are shown in the
chart below. Particularly in China, both an important base for
production and an irreplaceable market, Olympus held 296
patents as of March 31, 2008, a year-on-year increase of 103
patents. We will make continuous efforts to raise the ratio of
patent grants received to total patent applications in Japan
while increasing patent applications and grants overseas. In
addition, we will strengthen our relationships with overseas
affiliate companies that conduct R&D, thereby reinforcing our
Groupwide IP portfolio on a global basis.
The number and ratio of Olympus’ patents in each business
area at the end of the fiscal year ended March 31, 2008 are
shown in the table below. Olympus holds patents that offer
business potential in each of its Imaging Systems, Medical
Systems, Life Science and Industry-Related businesses. The
Company’s core Imaging Systems and Medical Systems busi-
nesses account for 67% of all patents held.
Number of Patents Granted by Core Competence Technology
(Number of patents granted)
06 07 08
Optical Technology
Electronic Imaging Technology
Precision Technology
Cell-Related Technology
3,000
1,000
2,000
Percentages of Patents Held in Core Competence Technologies
(%)
10
2
Optical
Technology
37
20 Electronic
Imaging
Technology
Precision Technology
Cell-Related
Technology
31
Applied
Technology
08
Number of Patents Held by Country
(Number of patents, thousands)
04 05 06 07 08
China
Others
United States
Japan
12
9
6
3
As the second graph shows, Olympus has been increasing
the number of patents granted for each core competence
technology by carefully screening technologies before applying
for patents. In addition, the percentage of patents acquired in
core competence technologies rose 3% year on year in relation
to overall patents, showing the fruits of Olympus’ selection and
concentration of technologies based on its R&D strategies.