Canon top among Japanese companies in US patents ranking for nin consecutive year

LONDON, 15 January 2014 - Canon Europe today announced that its parent company, Canon Inc., world-leader in imaging solutions, again ranked first among Japanese companies and third overall for the number of U.S. patents awarded in 2013, according to the latest ranking of preliminary patent results issued by IFI CLAIMS Patent Services on January 14, 2014.

Canon Inc. actively promotes the globalisation of its business and places great value on obtaining patents overseas, carefully adhering to a patent-filing strategy that pursues patents in essential countries and regions while taking into consideration the business strategies and technology and product trends unique to each location. Among these, the United States, with its many high-tech companies and large market scale, represents a particularly important region in terms of business expansion and technology alliances.

Canon prizes its corporate DNA of placing a high priority on technology. With regard to research and development results, the company actively promotes the acquisition of patent rights in accordance with the management direction of the Canon Group and technology trends while conducting thorough pre-application searches to raise the quality of applications. Through close cooperation between Canon's technology and intellectual property divisions, the company aims to improve its technological capabilities while further enhancing its intellectual property rights.

Canon has ranked in the top five patent holders for 28 consecutive years.

Notes to Editors

Canon U.S. patent ranking among Japanese companies 2005 - 2013

Year Ranking* No. of patents

2013 1st (3rd) 3,825

2012 1st (3rd) 3,179

2011 1st (3rd) 2,813

2010 1st (4th) 2,551

2009 1st (4th) 2,200

2008 1st (3rd) 2,107

2007 1st (3rd) 1,983

2006 1st (3rd) 2,367

2005 1st (2nd) 1,828

* Number in parenthesis represents Canon's ranking among all companies

Note: Number of patents for 2013 based on preliminary figures released by IFI CLAIMS Patent Services. Figures for 2005 to 2013 tabulated by Canon based on information issued by the United States Patent and Trademark Office.

LINK:	http://www.canon.co.uk/About_Us/Press_Centre/Press_Releases/Corporate_...
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