We contribute to management in terms of intellectual property mix, not only by making use of intellectual property rights such as patents, but also by leveraging knowledge and other forms of intellectual assets in a broad sense. We implement all possible methods—including contracts, litigation, new business development, and external collaborations—to make use of IPs in various facets of our business. Furthermore, we collaborate not only within the Intellectual Property and Rule Making/Standardization Division but also with business units, constantly keeping up with the latest social trends and anticipating future developments to strategically propose ways to utilize IPs, such as selecting licensing targets. Additionally, NEC fully respects the intellectual property of third parties, and we hope third parties respect NEC's intellectual property in return, so to facilitate this, we are involved in activities that protect the value of NEC’s important IP assets.

As we enter FY2025, the final year of NEC’s current mid-term management plan, our focus this year is to bring these activities to maturity. To this end, at last year's close, we had already established infrastructure and platforms both inside and outside the company—such as building IP governance systems, establishing an environment to enhance internal collaboration and promote the effective utilization of IP, and communicating our initiatives externally. These activities form the foundation necessary for our IP activities to contribute to management efficiently, effectively, and transparently. This year, we will further perfect these foundations and develop our activities even more efficiently and effectively on our established foundations.

By utilizing our expertise and experience in legal knowledge, negotiation skills, and technical capabilities, we aim to enable management of NEC’s intellectual property that contributes to our businesses—not only by handling lawsuits, claims, petitions, procedures, contracts, and negotiations related to IP, but by doing so, achieving sustainable business development and profitability from short-, medium-, and long-term. We strive for IP management that consistently contributes to our business. From research—which marks the entry point of technology—to the products and services delivered to customers, our Intellectual Property and Rule Making/Standardization Division is intimately involved, working daily to ensure that our investments are reliably linked to business success.