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Intellectual Property Strategy

At Itoki, we have placed our intellectual property functions under the umbrella of our Corporate Planning Department, and are promoting integration with our management strategies. By strategically turning new value created through product development, office space design proposals, etc. into intellectual property and utilizing it, we are increasing our company's value and competitive advantage in our business activities.

Intellectual Property Strategy Overview

Differentiation and strengthening competitiveness through design

Itoki is committed to its mission of We Design Tomorrow. We Design WORK-Style." by developing products, solutions, and proposing office space designs. In these activities, while respecting the intellectual property rights of third parties, the company proactively acquires intellectual property rights for the new value it creates, strengthening its competitiveness in the marketplace. In recent years, the number of patent and design applications has increased, and Itoki is strengthening protection for its strengths in product and office space design through the use of design rights. Itoki registered 199 new designs in fiscal year 2024, ranking fourth among Japanese companies*1. Itoki also ranked first in Japan with a cumulative total of 116 interior design registrations as of the end of 2024*2, which became available following the revision of the Design Act in 2019.
*1 Japan Patent Office Status Report 2025
*2 Researched by Itoki

CASE STUDY: Initiatives for mixed intellectual property (combination of patents and design rights)

In recent years, Itoki has strengthened the collaboration between product development and office space design, increasing momentum for creating new ways of working from both the furniture and space perspectives. When acquiring intellectual property rights, the company routinely takes a strategic approach by combining patent rights, a problem-solving approach, with design rights, a design approach. In its existing businesses, it is strengthening its market competitiveness by utilizing patent rights and design rights in both the Office 1.0 product development field and the Office 2.0 office space design field.

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The diagram shows a new type of conference room, with units each with a sofa in the front row and a table in the back row laid out in a circular configuration. This is an example of an Office 2.0 project that was approached from both a problem-solving approach and an office space design approach, and for which both patent and design rights have been applied for.

A virtuous cycle of innovation born from a review of the IP department

Award for inventions born from design thinking

As a mechanism for enhancing innovation, Itoki has introduced an "Invention Award" system to recognize innovative inventions.
This system was born from the Intellectual Property Department's practice of design thinking, focusing on the theme of "How can we contribute as an intellectual property department to improving innovation?". By deeply exploring the essential needs of the designers and development team (users) who are closely involved in creating innovation, we have built a system that promotes innovation while increasing user satisfaction through repeated discussions in the five processes of "empathy → problem definition → ideation → prototyping → verification."

As a new way for intellectual property departments to get involved, we will examine how they can work in the "front end" of innovation creation.

Discussion on the five stages of design thinking: empathy → problem definition → ideation → prototyping → verification

Creating new value by increasing motivation

The "Invention Award" system recognizes novel inventions (those with innovation and originality) that have the potential to enhance corporate value, selected from patent applications related to new products. Because the award is given to inventions while they are still fresh, this system motivates recipients to create new innovations, realizing a virtuous cycle of new value creation.

The Sound Parasol, which allows you to hear clearly just by sitting down, has become a hot topic as an iconic product in terms of both technology and design.

Next product development

The "Sound Parasol" has been developed to blend in with the office environment, creating the "sound sofa."

As unprecedented services and products are constantly being created and consumed, continuous innovation is essential to increasing corporate value. The foundation of this is the intangible intellectual property of human creativity, and we will continue to work to give this to form and increase corporate value.

TOPICS: Patent technology competitiveness index (YK value)

Itoki uses the YK value* as an objective indicator of technological competitiveness. The YK value grew by 223% from the end of 2020 to the end of 2023, during the previous medium-term management plan period, and by 113% from the end of 2023 to the end of 2024. In terms of YK value by product category, the company has maintained its number one ranking in the chair category since 2023 (as of April 30, 2025).

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* The "YK value" is a patent technology competitiveness index developed by Ichiro Kudo International Patent Office, which measures the strength of a patent's monopoly and exclusivity.

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