Intellectual Property (IP) Strategy to Support Fujitsu's Purpose

Fujitsu’s Purpose is to make the world more sustainable by building trust in society through innovation. To achieve this, the aim of our intellectual property management policy is to contribute to innovation and new value creation in the Fujitsu Group by strategically building and utilizing intellectual capital, including our technology, our brand and our designs.
Intellectual property management encompasses two main aspects. One is the construction of an intellectual property portfolio including prosecution for the intellectual capital already held by the Fujitsu Group and then using that portfolio to create new value. The other is risk management, which consists of lowering the incidence of risks likely to diminish our corporate or social value, primarily through measures that promote respect for and prevent violations of our rights and those of third parties.

The Fujitsu Group secures the rights to the technologies it has developed and to the brands and designs created through deployment of those technologies in society. Appropriate management of those rights allows us to differentiate our offerings from the technologies and services provided by our competitors, and maintain and strengthen the competitive advantage of our own technologies and services.
To support the search for new growth opportunities, the Fujitsu Group conducts thorough research and analysis of global technology trends, sharing information such as the status of patent applications in strategically important areas. Through its commitment to materiality, the Group must also build broad-based, industry-agnostic partnerships to address a range of sustainability issues. The Group’s commitment to open innovation as well as standardization and rulemaking puts it in a position of active industry leadership, and by pursuing initiatives geared to deployment in society, the Group is also helping to build a value co-creation ecosystem and an environment that fosters innovation. In this way, we are adopting a variety of approaches to contribute to value creation, including through technology, brand and design rights, license management in the area of open innovation, and the establishment of global standards and rules.

One important way to reduce the risk of losing corporate value is by protecting intellectual property. Other party ‘infringement of rights held by the Fujitsu Group not only obstruct the progress of our business strategy, they also have the potential to negatively impact customers’ trust in the Fujitsu brand in a competitive environment. For this reason, we constantly monitor for infringements, and where a proposal is discovered that could potentially cause a rights violation, we immediately execute appropriate countermeasures.
Fujitsu’s Code of Conduct which, together with our Purpose and Values makes up the Fujitsu Way, clearly states our commitment to respecting and protecting intellectual property and respecting the intellectual property rights of others, just as they respect our own acquisition of rights to intellectual capital. We We have established Rules for Handling Intellectual Property Rights that link this Code of Conduct to specific actions; these rules are being applied to Fujitsu and Group companies in Japan that undertake actions involving intellectual property. We are also striving to reduce the risk of infringement of the rights held by other parties. This entails intellectual property checks such as conducting patent infringement surveys and checking trademarks and design rights throughout the commercialization and development of a product or service. It also involves responding to internal requests for advice concerning the terms and conditions of IP agreements.

The Intellectual Property Division (the Intellectual Property Global Head Office) forms part of the Legal and Intellectual Property Unit and reports to the General Counsel. It comprises the Intellectual Property Strategy Office, which develops and promotes the company’s intellectual property strategy in consultation with management, and the Intellectual Property Center, responsible for building the company’s IP portfolio. In addition to collaboration within the division, the Intellectual Property Division manages intellectual property in collaboration with Fujitsu Techno Research Ltd., which provides IP-related services.
The Intellectual Property Division also collaborates with the Technology Unit headed by the Chief Technology Officer (CTO) to implement IP activities that support corporate value creation, rapidly incorporating the Technology, Management, and Business Portfolio strategies, and their progress, into IP strategies and the action plans of the Intellectual Property Division. In addition, at meetings such as the Independent Directors & Auditors Council attended by external directors and auditors, the Head of the Legal and Intellectual Property Unit reports on these IP management strategies and their progress, providing opportunities for discussion with management.

Fujitsu has developed an intellectual property governance framework to make optimal use of its intellectual capital throughout the Fujitsu Group. This ensures that IP-related activities undertaken by Group companies in Japan are integrated. Where a company undertakes independent IP activities as a partial exception, a reporting line is set up and the activity is conducted through close collaboration. We provide IP support (including using reporting lines) for research facilities in 7 countries around the world to ensure that IP management is tailored to the realities of global business.

One of the key strategies for the Intellectual Property Division is the Technology strategy. The Division is helping to maintain and strengthen the company’s competitive advantage and acquire new business opportunities for the Fujitsu Group by strengthening such core technologies as AI and Computing that lead to service differentiation, and by systematically implementing IP activities linked to the Technology and Business Portfolio strategies. We are promoting intellectual property activities in order to gain a competitive advantage. These include strengthening collaboration between the Intellectual Property and Research Divisions, and using IP information to analyze the strengths that technologies under development would have in the market (with the Intellectual Property Division providing feedback on the results to the Research Division). We are also identifying and addressing areas in global standardization and Open Source Software (OSS) that where international standardization and Open Source Software(OSS)should be actively utilized.. Furthermore, to enhance the added value of Fujitsu Uvance offerings, we will continue to deepen the ties between the Intellectual Property and Business divisions to further strengthen our R&D technology-based offerings.

Fujitsu’s key strategies are sustainability-driven, as set out in the Medium-Term Management Plan launched in May 2023. One of those strategies is the Technology strategy, a key component of which is investment in intellectual property. In so doing, Fujitsu is engaging in various IP activities to help drive Fujitsu Group business and address a range of sustainability challenges. These activities include building an IP portfolio with a focus on business application, contributing to global standardization and rulemaking, and promoting the use of IP, at the same time strengthening AI, Computing and other core technologies that differentiate our services, and implementing strategic partnerships. The following section provides examples that illustrate the purpose of these IP activities and their contribution to addressing a range of sustainability challenges.

Developing an Intellectual Property Portfolio with a Focus on Business Application

The Technology strategy channels the Fujitsu Group’s R&D resources into five Key Technologies (KTs), all centered on AI and all essential for digital services like Fujitsu Uvance. The objective is to strengthen AI, Computing and other core technologies that lead to service differentiation, and implement strategic partnerships. Strategic investment in intellectual property is fundamental to executing the Technology strategy. The Fujitsu Group is increasing the ratio held by the five KTs in the IP portfolio. Our AI technologies have been benefiting from a base of R&D technologies accumulated since the 1980s, so that Fujitsu now ranks highest in terms of the number of patent applications published in Japan between 2014 and August 2024.
In addition to the rights the company already holds in its traditionally strong core technologies, we are currently focused on securing rights to applied AI technologies. ‘Applied technologies’ refers to those that combine core technologies with knowledge specific to certain industries or applications—technologies that are implemented in Fujitsu Uvance offerings, and also to technologies that integrate AI with the other four KTs. Securing rights to applied technologies is aligned with our Business strategy to accelerate the integration of the five KTs, centered on AI, into Fujitsu Uvance. We are working to develop an IP portfolio that includes patents for applied technologies, in line with our Business strategy to offer Fujitsu Kozuchi, the AI platform announced in March 2024, as part of Fujitsu Uvance. We have also established a foothold in quantum computer development. In the 2023 Patent Application Technology Trends Survey Report entitled “Quantum Computer-Related Technologies” issued by the Japan Patent Office, we are ranked 1st in Japan (and 9th in the world) in terms of the highest number of patent family applicants. We will continue to support the implementation of sustainability-driven key strategies within the Fujitsu Group with a view to leveraging our IP portfolio in support of our Business strategy.

FUJITSU-MONAKA is a general-purpose processor that reduces the power consumed by data centers and other social infrastructure and contributes to the development of a carbon-neutral society. It delivers high energy efficiency by leveraging such unique Fujitsu technologies as Fujitsu-designed microarchitecture, high-speed data processing to provide robust support of a wide range of AI workloads, and low-power-consuming technologies. In order to build sustainable AI and HPC infrastructures, Fujitsu is developing an IP portfolio that features Fujitsu proprietary technologies and is based on consideration of the areas that will be made open to underpin the technologies that contribute to strategic collaboration with partners.

Global Standardization Activities and Rulemaking

Cutting-edge technologies do not immediately come into widespread use simply by virtue of their potential, but must be implemented in society and function to open up global markets. They are key to engaging in collaborative efforts and building industry-agnostic ecosystems designed to solve societal challenges. The Fujitsu Group is therefore actively leading the industry through global standardization activities and rulemaking, pursuing initiatives aimed at the social implementation of these technologies. Some examples of those initiatives are given below.

Even as achieving a decarbonized society requires the visualization and reduction of CO₂ emissions across the entire supply chain, Fujitsu will contribute to achieving a sustainable society by sharing with customers and society both the knowledge it has cultivated through global standardization activities and rulemaking, and the expertise it has gained through decarbonization practices implemented together with global suppliers.
Specifically, Fujitsu will contribute to PCF (product carbon footprint) calculation and the development of specifications for intercompany data exchange through the World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD)’s Partnership for Carbon Transparency (PACT) Implementation program and the GreenxDigital Consortium. Fujitsu will also lead efforts to share CO₂ emissions data based on these specifications. As part of efforts toward decarbonization, the company will utilize its ESG Management Platform to support the sustainability business decisions of its customers.

Promoting Use of Intellectual Property

The Fujitsu Group is helping implement solutions to societal problems by promoting the use of intellectual property, including proposing new licensing schemes for partners and implementing the FUJITSU Technology Licensing Program™ for SDGs, which is an initiative that encourages enterprises and academic institutions to use intellectual property including patents and expertise to contribute to achieving SDGs.

The Fujitsu Group is promoting the FUJITSU Technology Licensing Program™ for SDGs, an initiative that encourages companies and academic institutions to use the Group’s intellectual property including patents and expertise as a key means of contributing to SDGs to make the world more sustainable through innovation.
The Fujitsu Group is committed to making its technologies widely available in society and to contributing to environmental conservation, well-being, and economic growth through collaboration via the WIPO GREEN network (a platform for transfer of environmental technologies), through intellectual property matching activities among national and local governments, financial institutions and universities, through education on intellectual property creation in collaboration with educational institutions, and through the use of socially inclusive brands and designs. We consider that continuing such initiatives will contribute to the formation of a range of intangible assets, including global recognition of the Fujitsu Group, employee innovation incentive and so on.

Notably, introducing patented Fujitsu technologies at IP matching events hosted by local governments and financial institutions in Japan allows us to license our technology to many companies and universities and so create an array of new products and services to solve societal problems. We also organize IP workshops and other activities that feature our technologies, inspiring students to become future innovators.

Pinaroma: Scented pin badge (BIGWAVE Inc.)
Badge manufacturer BIGWAVE (Nagano, Japan) has launched pinaroma, a scented oil-infused pin badge containing a fragrance chip. Collaboration between Patrade and the Nagano-Ken Shinkumi Bank led to the deployment of Fujitsu’s open patent “Fragrance Diffusion Technology” in the development of the badge.

The Fujitsu Group is engaged in open innovation through the utilization of intellectual property. We propose licensing schemes suited to our partners, along with support such as identifying applicable intellectual property, to encourage the utilization of our technology.

Sonofai Inc. is a startup from Shizuoka engaged in developing devices that combine master craftsmanship with digital technology. In June 2025, the company commenced domestic sales of "Sonofai T-01", an automated inspection device powered by AI to determine the fat content of frozen albacore tuna. Co-developed with Fujitsu, Ishida Tec Co., Ltd. (food processing equipment manufacturer and seller) and Tokai University (Shizuoka Campus), the device is aimed at the seafood processing industry and fisheries cooperatives. In terms of our licensing arrangements, we have a licensing scheme whereby we acquire share options and Sonofai is licensed to implement business projects using our Ultrasound Analysis AI technology.