There is a growing movement among automakers to release their intellectual property to the outside world. In April, Honda opened a website to serve as a window for license agreements and other matters. The aim is to expand the application of the company's technology. Toyota provides patents for vehicle electrification technology, etc., free of charge. In addition, as a countermeasure against the spread of new coronavirus infection, there are a series of moves to open up their intellectual property. There is a growing trend toward not enclosing technology, pursuing open innovation, and making it widely useful to society. (Yumiko Egami)
Honda has set up a site that lists licensable technologies in order to promote the use of its own technology outside the company. . We receive inquiries from companies that are willing to use Honda's technology to create new products and technologies.
Currently, there are 10 technologies on the site, such as the technology to join iron and aluminum with frictional heat and pressure, anti-virus and anti-allergen processed fabrics. We will also introduce examples of development with other industries and the flow to commercialization.
Honda has more than 50,000 patents in Japan and overseas. The license is paid, but Hirokazu Bessho, general manager of the company's intellectual property and standardization department, explains, "It's not a business-only effort." "Our company name is 'Honda Motor Co., Ltd.'. It's not limited to 'automobiles,' it's a company that makes money from technology. However, Honda (use in products) is limited to four-wheeled vehicles and two-wheeled vehicles. "If it becomes easier to access our technology from the outside, it will be easier to come up with ideas (for application to product development in various fields), and we should be able to utilize our technology widely in the world." I expect.
In 2015, Toyota began providing fuel cell-related licenses free of charge as part of its efforts to popularize fuel cell vehicles (FCV). Furthermore, in 2019, the company announced that it would provide approximately 23,740 licenses for electrification technology free of charge. The targets are technologies such as motors, power control units (PCU) and system control, which are positioned as core technologies for electrification. It is a technology cultivated in the development of hybrid vehicles (HV), and the purpose is to popularize electric vehicles.
As shown by the efforts of Honda and Toyota, attempts to open up intellectual property to the outside world have become conspicuous in the automobile industry. However, patents created through research activities are essentially valuable assets for companies. Regarding the reason why automakers are aggressively opening their patents, Jinzo Fujino, a former professor at Tokyo University of Science who is familiar with intellectual property strategies, said that the common sense of crisis that "patents based on petroleum fuel will eventually become useless" is the background. Analyze that there is
About Toyota's efforts "It will take a little more time until the era of non-gasoline vehicles comes, but after that it will be too late. The flow of technology supremacy will be expanded early and 'Toyota's technology will be used for electrification.' It seems that the idea is to create a
On the other hand, there is also a movement to open up intellectual property for the purpose of contributing to society . In 2020, executives and intellectual property managers of 20 companies, including Toyota, Nissan, Honda, and companies outside the automobile industry, became promoters, and announced the "Intellectual Property-related New Coronavirus Infectious Disease Countermeasures Support Declaration." We will not exercise our rights, such as patents, and will not seek compensation or compensation for acts aimed at the early convergence of the novel coronavirus.
Based on this declaration, Nissan licensed the use of thermal image sensor technology to sensor manufacturers Chino and Seiko NPC (Taito-ku, Tokyo), respectively, free of charge. It is used for the development of devices that can quickly measure body surface temperature without touching the skin. Nissan also licensed CEC to use a system that automatically registers information such as body temperature measured by non-contact thermometers and thermocameras for each employee. CEC will integrate the system into its Information and Communication Technology (ICT) services.
Mr. Fujino said, "In the face of the unprecedented crisis of the end of the new corona, patents should not be used to exclude other companies or to obtain royalties (royalties), but should be used for the public good. The idea spread," he said, adding, "Toyota's opening of patents may have been a catalyst for raising awareness."
The trend of expanding open innovation to create new products and technologies and to address social issues such as the realization of a decarbonized society is likely to continue. Mr. Fujino emphasizes, "It is important to determine which patents should be released and which should be protected."
Nikkan Kogyo Shimbun May 7, 2021