予算が限られているので、特許などの知的財産権を保有する余裕はないと思っていませんか？特許を取得する前に、まずは収益を上げることに注力したいと考えているかもしれません。そんなあなたに、今日はいくつかの調査結果をご紹介したいと思います。

Japan Patent Office (JPO) published an annual report on July 12 2019. According to the report, 313,567 patent applications were filed in Japan in 2018. And, 253,000 patent applications among them were filed by domestic applicants. It slightly decreased than last year. As you may know, Japanese companies have been reducing investment in Japanese patents. However, my more serious concern is that they have been not increasing investment in patenting in foreign countries either, while increasing foreign sales. The chart shows the transition of foreign patent filing number and the foreign sales of Japanese companies. In fact, Japanese companies have not increased investment in intellectual properties, despite the increasing importance of […]

Open innovation is essential for companies. It has been said for quite some time now. However, many of Japanese companies seem to be not yet able to make good use of open innovation, comparing to European and American companies. The Japanese government released the White Paper on Open Innovation (the second edition) on June 27 2018. It shows the current status of open innovation and some successful cases in Japan. The findings are that: Collaborative or contracted research between private companies and universities or public institutions has been increasing both in the number of cases and in terms of expense. However, both the proportion of research expense to universities in the […]

On May 16, The Japan Patent Office (JPO) released the updates on business-related inventions which are defined as invention which realizes a business method by using information and communication technology. As previously reported, patent applications of business-related inventions have been on an increasing trend since 2011, and approximately 7,900 patent applications for business-related inventions were filed in 2016 (increase of 11.1% over the previous year), in spite of the downward trend in the number of domestic patent applications. Especially, patent applications in the financial sector (which should include FinTech) markedly increased in 2016 (increase of 40% over the previous year). The patent grant rate for business-related inventions is almost 70%. […]

On April 13 2018, the Japanese government published the estimated population in Japan.  The total population is 126.76 million, as of October 1 2017. It decreases 227 thousand (0.18%) from the previous year, and decreases for the seventh consecutive year. The chart shows the number of increase-decrease in population (bar chart) and the increase-decrease rate (line chart). The population aged 65 and over is 35.152 million (increase 561 thousand from the previous year) and its proportion sets new record high of 27.7%. The number of foreigners resident in Japan is on the rise, but the population shrink cannot be stopped. The falling birth rate and the aging population is creating […]