Essential to the Mitsubishi Electric Group's pursuit of global business development is the rigorous promotion and protection of intellectual property (IP) rights.

Recognizing IP as a vital resource that underpins corporate strength, the Mitsubishi Electric Group continues to integrate its business, R&D and IP activities. With approximately 37,000 patents and about 10,000 new applications filed each year in Japan and overseas, our extensive portfolio forms the wellspring of our global competitive advantage.

The Group's IP-related operations are the direct responsibility of the President and overseen by our IP Division at headquarters under an appointed IP executive officer. Day-to-day issues are handled by IP departments at relevant facilities and R&D centers. Focusing on integration as the means to improve the structure and effectiveness of our IP network, we coordinate activities at each level. The IP Division at headquarters formulates strategies for the entire Group, promotes critical IP-related projects, and coordinates interaction with the patent office. At the facility and R&D center level, IP departments pursue specific objectives in line with the Group's overall IP strategies.

In all our IP-related activities, we strive to enhance IP capabilities in response to business conditions based on effective utilization of the IP creation cycle. Specifically, the IP Division and its departments identify critical IP-related themes in connection with mainstay businesses and important R&D projects. In strategically promoting IP activities, we further reinforce the Group's global competitiveness.

In our IP strategy of recent years, maintaining a close correlation with international standards has been particularly important. Therefore, we are working to ensure the international standardization of our technologies as well as to obtain certified patents for standards. In patents related to MPEG¹ and DVDs, we have taken the industry lead in the management of patent pool organizations, such as MPEG-LA and DVD6C. These IP activities are contributing to the improvement and expansion of our business performance.

Moreover, in response to further business globalization, Group IP representatives in the United States, Europe and China actively work to strengthen IP capabilities and to accelerate our global IP activities.

In the critical area of protecting IP rights, we work closely with relevant industry associations and government agencies to prevent IP infringements and eradicate counterfeiting. In-house, we continually update and enforce internal controls for the appropriate management of confidential IP material.

The 21st Century Encouragement of Invention Prize for "Gradationally Controlled Voltage Inverter Technology"

With this gradationally controlled voltage inverter technology for converting direct current into alternating current, Mitsubishi Electric has realized highly efficient yet compact inverters. This product is expected to be adopted for use in various electronic goods.

The Prize of the Chairman of the Japan Chamber of Commerce and Industry for "Electrical Discharge Machine Control Technology"

This award-winning technology controls the power source by optimally combining both the number of switching elements and operating time to regulate electric discharge. This achievement makes possible the high-precision molding processing and precision processing of environmental technology products, aerospace parts and medical appliances, for which maintaining constant quality standards is difficult.