Intellectual Property

Approach to intellectual property

Intellectual properties are vital assets that ensure the competitive advantage of a business and drive its ongoing growth. In its next system for the planning and operation of its IP strategies, JUKI will be playing both “offense” (accumulating and using intellectual properties) and “defense” (respecting the rights of third parties).

Accumulating and using intellectual property (offence)

JUKI is aggressively creating a patent network to be populated by technologies envisioned in the near future. Once established, this network is expected to ensure competitive advantage, secure freedom of development on important development themes in JUKI’s businesses, and appropriately secure and protect rights to the results of JUKI’s R&D. JUKI files global patent applications mainly in China in anticipation of upcoming competition, and in accordance with its own corporate policies.

JUKI also makes efforts to maintain and enhance its brand image by appropriately eliminating counterfeit goods through the issuance of warnings followed by legal action. As a consequence, the registered “JUKI” trademark has been widely recognized and well known in China since 2018. JUKI products are now entitled to stronger legal protections.

Respecting the rights of third parties (defense)

JUKI has reduced the risk that the rights of third parties will be infringed by establishing a system to investigate and review third party rights before, during, and after the development of its own products and technologies.

Cycle of growth

Convinced that the “accumulation” and “use” of intellectual properties are closely-related activities, JUKI approaches its IP activities with the objective of using IP to drive the growth of the company. The use of acquired IP generates profit with which to expand JUKI businesses and bring even better JUKI products to the market.

Growth cycle chart

Details on JUKI’s initiatives

1Reinforce the accumulation of rights

  • JUKI’s management and business strategies call for the selection of categories that are expected to grow in the future, such as system-related technologies and automation technologies, as priority themes in its patent application reinforcement efforts.
  • To reinforce the priority themes, JUKI is building a patent network from various points of view focused on protecting its technologies, both by filing single patent applications and setting numerical patent application targets.
  • In managing its overall rights held, JUKI actively disposes of obsolete rights and raises investments in new inventions to enhance the value of rights currently held.

2Utilize ownership rights

  • JUKI strives to clarify how its differentiating technologies relate to the IP rights it holds, and to communicate the superior features of JUKI products to consumers in the clearest possible terms.
  • A design right is both an effective measure to eliminate counterfeit goods and an important intellectual property to enhance JUKI’s brand image. JUKI continuously works to strengthen its design right application activities with this in mind.