Intellectual Property

The Company regards intellectual property (IP) that has resulted from its R&D activities to be an important management resource underpinning SEKISUI CHEMICAL Group’s growth and profitability as well as efforts toward the maximization of corporate value. For that reason, SEKISUI CHEMICAL Group endeavors to secure strategic IP that supports its business activities, as well as to maintain and manage any acquired IP.
Meanwhile, we conduct periodic investigations to avoid infringing upon the IP rights of others, and take appropriate measures to avoid and prevent others from infringing upon the IP rights of SEKISUI CHEMICAL Group.
In order that each individual developer can implement these measures, we have prepared several educational programs tailored to the level of each developer, from the acquisition of basic knowledge to strategy building, and conduct Group-wide educational activities relating to IP.

In addition to paying monetary incentives for inventions made by employees, the Invention Grand Prize has been established as one part of our efforts to ensure researchers and engineers receive the evaluations and recognition they deserve. The Invention Grand Prize pays out monetary incentives to inventors employed by the Company as compensation for their achievements that have made a particularly large contribution to profits.
In fiscal 2021, a third-class certification was granted for a patent related to profiles for the SPR-SE method.

SEKISUI CHEMICAL Group places considerable emphasis on strategic IP activities in order to maximize its prominence in technology and contribute to business growth. These activities are not limited to patent information alone. We are also promoting strategic IP activities such as appropriate strategic development and management of our IP portfolio based on analysis of the competitive environment, including a wide range of business-related non-patent information such as IP data, the market, and competitors.

SEKISUI CHEMICAL Group has set up independent intellectual property divisions at its Corporate Headquarters and at each divisional company. This takes into account the Group’s divisional company structure and enables the Group to promptly engage in activities that are attuned to the business environment of each divisional company.
At each divisional company, the Intellectual Property, Business, and R&D divisions are in constant cooperation, striving to achieve prominence over our competitors based on the distinctive characteristics of their respective areas. In this way, we promote IP activities which link to the expansion and growth of our business.
At our Corporate Headquarters, we carry out unified planning and promotion of IP strategy for all Group companies, aiming to optimize their IP resources.