Murata's Intellectual Property

Murata′s intellectual property function consists of two departments: the Intellectual Property Department and the IP Planning Department. By this organizational structure, we contribute to the growth of our business by providing prompt support for business and development by allocating personnel who are closely connected to the workplace, and by strengthening intellectual property governance from a corporate perspective. In addition, we have established intellectual property bases overseas and have established a system that enables us to quickly protect and utilize intellectual property created locally. The details of intellectual property activities are continuously reported to the Board of Directors, and the use of intellectual property information in management and intellectual property risk management are strengthened.
These efforts have been highly evaluated externally, and in March 2024, we were awarded the Clarivate Top 100 Global Innovator 2024.
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In line with the increase in the ratio of overseas sales at Murata, we are actively promoting foreign applications as intellectual property investment. While taking into account the characteristics of our technology, the market, and trends in the same industry, we are actively acquiring intellectual property in the United States, China, and other countries. In consideration of cost-effectiveness, we are actively using international applications (PCT applications) to conduct strategic foreign applications.
The know-how, which is also the source of Murata's competitiveness, is thoroughly kept confidential.

Murata has formulated the following Basic Policy on Intellectual Property Activities, which states that all employees will practice intellectual property activities that are useful for business beyond the boundaries of the organization.

(Basic Policy on Intellectual Property Activities)
All Murata employees will collaborate across organizational boundaries and implement intellectual property activities that are useful for business.

All Murata employees

1. Think about how it will be useful in your business and acquire intellectual property
2. Acquire intellectual property while emphasising on "speed" and "timing" and also "quality"
3. Utilize intellectual property in a variety of ways to ensure a continuous supply of unique products
4. Utilize intellectual property information for management, business, and development strategies
5. Comply with laws and regulations related to intellectual property

In addition, Patent Leaders are appointed to promote intellectual property activities in each business division and development division, and the Patent Leaders play a central role in intellectual property activities in cooperation with the Intellectual Property Department and the IP Planning Department. In addition, we are fostering an intellectual property mindset throughout the Murata Group through rank-and-job education, confidential information management education, intellectual property awareness forums, and the development and operation of an e-learning environment.

The business conditions and intellectual property conditions surrounding each business differ greatly.Each business promotes intellectual property activities in line with the roles of the intellectual property function and the direction of the intellectual property strategy shown below, but within each business, we carefully examine the business status and intellectual property status of each product group, clarify the role of the intellectual property function and the direction of the intellectual property strategy in cooperation with the business division and the intellectual property department, and carry out strategic intellectual property activities.

In addition to acquiring intellectual property rights, we have begun activities to evaluate the IP portfolios of the entire company and optimize strategies and activities and each business based on comparisons with intellectual property scores and investment efficiency of Murata and these of benchmark values, as well as the duration of the IP and the composition ratio of each unique classification. The details of strategic intellectual property activities are reported to the Board of Directors every year and supervised by them, and the management committee also discusses over intellectual property activities to strengthen governance.

Murata also utilizes the IP landscape to compare with competitors in terms of patent competitiveness and asset value. Based on the new knowledge gained through the use of this IP landscape, we formulate an intellectual property strategy based on the growth strategies of each business and aim to form an optimal intellectual property portfolio.
In addition, we are also engaged in activities to propose technologies and business domains and co-creation partners that will lead to new businesses.
In particular, in the third layer, the intellectual property function is involved from the early phase of R&D, and we support the promotion of commercialization and the construction of business models by conducting business environment surveys and technology exploration from the perspective of intellectual property.

Going forward, we will continue to actively utilize our IP Landscape to contribute to the formation of an optimal intellectual property portfolio based on the growth strategies of each business, the review of intellectual property strategies based on information obtained from analysis and evaluation, and the maintain and enhance the competitive advantage of our business.