AR2017

35/90

Intellectual Property ActivitiesThe LINTEC Group aims to increase corporate value by develop-ing original products that fully satisfy customer needs. We there-fore position intellectual property, including patents, trademarks, and design rights, acquired through these development activities as important management resources. While placing the utmost emphasis on respecting the rights of other companies, the Intellectual Property Department of the Research & Development Division promotes Companywide and strategic intellectual prop-erty activities that include identication of new candidates for invention at R&D sites to add to our intellectual property rights, which are the lifeblood of a technology-centered company.Accordingly, while linking activities such as patent portfolio building for our foundation and growth business domains with our business strategy, we aim to improve protability based on intellectual property.JapanOverseas1,6002,0001,200800400020132015201420162017(Fiscal years ended March 31)1,8481,599Number of Patents Tatsuya TsukidaExecutive OfcerGeneral Manager, Research & Development Div.Under our previous medium-term business plan, LIP-2016, we sowed the seeds for bringing groundbreaking products from our laboratories to market. The Advanced Technology Building com-pleted in 2015, which enabled us to conduct testing on large-scale pilot coaters instead of on facilities in our plants, was extremely effective in improving development speed. As testing in the research center can be done without stopping existing facili-ties, we avoid production losses on lines in our plants and we are also able to obtain more detailed data. We also have coating facilities for use in developing mass production processes for next-generation products, and I think we will achieve striking results in the next three years.Our rst step under the new medium-term business plan, LIP-2019, was to bring a planning department under the wing of the research center in April 2017. The aim was to incorporate our basic tenets of “front-loading design”1 and “one-stop develop-ment”2 fully into the medium- and long-term development process to give concrete shape to the research activities of each lab without delay. Our research staff are instructed to deliver marketable products in the area on which they are working with the aim of creating as many new products as possible to contrib-ute to business. The globalization of LINTEC business has increased the importance of having research staff stationed overseas. Such staff not only provide technological support for overseas customers but are also very effective in obtaining an accurate picture of customer requirements. We therefore intend to second research staff to our subsidiaries overseas.1 “Front-loading design” involves identifying development issues and risks as far as possible in the initial stages of product development and devising early responses to minimize the necessity for revisions at a later stage.2 “One-stop development” consists of developing mass production processes in parallel with new materials development.A Message from the General Manager33LINTEC ANNUAL REPORT 2017