Mitsubishi Electric Corporation announced that it ranked first among Japanese firms and third globally in terms of international patent applications filed in 2020.
Mitsubishi supported its claim by an announcement made by Switzerland-based World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) earlier this month.
The high rankings reflect Mitsubishi Electric’s strategic positioning of intellectual property (IP) as a crucial business resource, including for R&D to support the company’s sustainable growth, the company said.
The highest number of international patent applications filed by Mitsubishi Electric Corporation, in a single year, was in 2018 — at 2,812 applications. (See featured chart)
Mitsubishi Electric has been actively filing international patent applications in line with its globalizing business. The company has ranked first among Japanese companies for six consecutive years within the top five internationally for seven consecutive years. Mitsubishi Electric has been particularly active in filing patent applications related to IoT- and AI-supported solutions in recent years.
Mitsubishi Electric said that its IP-development initiatives include:
1. IP targeted at business and R&D strategies group-wide
- IP and technical-standards initiatives are closely integrated with business and R&D strategies.
- IP Division under president’s direct control at head office coordinates activities of IP divisions in factories, R&D centers and affiliated companies worldwide.
2. Global IP activities and international-standards strategies
- Crucial IP-related initiatives support mainstay businesses and important R&D projects.
- IP patents in promising emerging countries are filed early and proactively.
- Resident officers are assigned to manage IP activities in the U.S.A., Europe, China and Southeast Asia.
- Patents are acquired for international standards (“standard-essential patents”) and in fields where competition is intensifying, helping to strengthen product competitiveness and market share
Top two ranks
According to information available from WIPO, China-based telecom giant, Huawei Technologies ranked first with 5,464 international patent applications filed in 2020. At second rank was Samsung Electronics of Republic of Korea with 3,093 applications.
China was also the top country in terms of international patent applications filed in 2020, at 68,720, up 16.1 per cent from 2019. USA came second with 59230 applications, 3 per cent higher than in 2019.
