 TRIZ Paper: Japan TRIZ Symposium 2010 |
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| Intellectual Property Strategy of TRIZ Usage and Practice | |
| Toshimitsu Kataoka (Patbrain, Co., Ltd.) | |
| A Special Interest Lecture presented at The Sixth TRIZ Symposium in Japan, Held by Japan TRIZ Society on Sept. 9-11, 2010 at Kanagawa Institute of Technology, Atsugi, Kanagawa, Japan [English translation by Kyoko Miyashita and Kazushi Tsuwako (Hitachi GST)] |
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| Introduction (from "Personal Report of Japan TRIZ Symosium 2010" ) by Toru Nakagawa (OGU), Dec. 22, 2010 | |
| [Posted on Dec. 30, 2010] Updated: Sept. 25, 2011 |
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Editor's Note (Toru Nakagawa, Dec. 28, 2010)
This article was given by Toshimitsu Kataoka as a Special Interest Lecture, i.e. an Invited Lecture, at the 6th TRIZ Symposium in Japan, 2010
. PDF files of the presentation slides were posted (on Dec. 1, 2010) in the Official Web site of Japan TRIZ Society
.
I have just written an introduction to it as a part of my "Personal Report of Japan TRIZ Symposium 2010"
For the purpose of easier access to the presentation, the present page is made to contain the followings:
[Note: PDF files of the presentation slides are stored in this Web site and are linked. (Sept. 25, 2011)]
English page (the present page) Japanese page Abstract (in HTML) Extended Absract (in HTML) Presentation slides in PDF (Link to the Official Site of Japan TRIZ Society)
Presentation slides in PDF (in this Web site)Presentation slides in PDF (Link to the Official Site of Japan TRIZ Society)
Presentation slides in PDF (in this Web site)Nakagawa's Introduction (Excerpt from the "Personal Report") -- -- Author's Message (Dec. 26, 2010)
[1] Abstract
Intellectual Property Strategy of TRIZ Usage and Practice
Toshimitsu Kataoka (Patbrain, Co., Ltd.)
The 6th Japan TRIZ Symposium 2010
Held by Japan TRIZ Society on Sept. 9-11, 2010
at Kanagawa Institute of Technology, Atsugi, Kanagawa, JapanAbstract
Titled “Explosive Spread of Super Inventing Art – US Taking Off its Hat to This Russian-born Method,” TRIZ was introduced in the May 3rd, 1997 issue of Nikkei Mechanical. As this was a specialized mechanical magazine, many people accepted TRIZ as a potent tool for technical problem solving. Since then, though about 10 years have passed, this situation hasn’t changed. Many of the people from intellectual property also have nearly the same perspectives, and they don’t look upon TRIZ as an important weapon for intellectual property problem solving. When it comes to intellectual property right acquisition, intellectual property problem or intellectual property strategy, people in any sector try to solve problems turning to means other than TRIZ because they are related with legislation. What a waste! TRIZ will adjust the direction of vectors for management strategy, technology strategy and intellectual property strategy, and will supplement each other. Such being the case, it will be illustrated using cases how TRIZ can advantage intellectual property strategy.
[2] Presentation Slides in PDF [Link inside this Site (Sept. 25, 2011)] [Link to JTS Official site]
Presentation Slides in English in PDF (48 slides, 2.2 MB)
(to JTS site)
English translation by Kyoko Miyashita and Kazushi Tsuwako (Hitachi GST)Presentation Slides in Japanese in PDF (48 slides, 2.4 MB)
(to JTS site)
[3] Introduction:
Excerpt from:
Personal Report of
The Sixth TRIZ Symposium in Japan, 2010
Part G. Patent Studies and ToolsToru Nakagawa (Osaka Gakuin University)
Dec. 22, 2010 (Posted on Dec. 30, 2010)
Toshimitsu Kataoka (Patbrain, Co., Ltd.) [JI06, L-1] gave a 'Special Interest Lecture', i.e., an invited lecture (60 minutes) on a topic requested by the Symposium organizers, with the title of "Intellectual Property Strategy of TRIZ Usage and Practice". The full presentation slides in PDF are posted on the Official Web site of Japan TRIZ Society both in Japanese
Mr. Kataoka has been interested in creativity and invention methods for many years. As early as in 1972 he read G.S. Altshuller's book "Algorithm of Invention" in Japanese translation ("Hatsumei-Hasso-Nyumon", translated by Keiichi Endo and Takao Takada, published by Agune-sha (1972)), and he has been involved in TRIZ since 1997 when TRIZ was introduced to Japan through USA as a new movement. He worked for Anritsu Co. as an engineer in electrical communication and then as an IP specialist. Since 2007, after retiring from Anritsu, he started an IP consulting firm, Patbrain Co.
The Author's Abstract is quoted here first:
Titled “Explosive Spread of Super Inventing Art – US Taking Off its Hat to This Russian-born Method,” TRIZ was introduced in the May 3rd, 1997 issue of Nikkei Mechanical. As this was a specialized mechanical magazine, many people accepted TRIZ as a potent tool for technical problem solving. Since then, though about 10 years have passed, this situation hasn’t changed. Many of the people from intellectual property also have nearly the same perspectives, and they don’t look upon TRIZ as an important weapon for intellectual property problem solving. When it comes to intellectual property right acquisition, intellectual property problem or intellectual property strategy, people in any sector try to solve problems turning to means other than TRIZ because they are related with legislation. What a waste! TRIZ will adjust the direction of vectors for management strategy, technology strategy and intellectual property strategy, and will supplement each other. Such being the case, it will be illustrated using cases how TRIZ can advantage intellectual property strategy.
The Author talked with a strong sense of crisis in the current situations in Japan of not only IP (Intellectual Property) strategies but also of industries and economy. The slide (right) quotes the graph made by Professor Koichi Ogawa, Univ. of Tokyo. In the graph, historical change in global market shares by Japanese industries are plotted for the products, e.g., DRAM memory, LC panel, DVD player, Solar power generation panel, and Vehicle navigation system. Japanese industries developed these high-tech products and obtained initially a very high global share, but gradually, or even rapidly, lost its share when the global market was expanding. This fact is known as a serious problem in Japan. Professor Ogawa has pointed out that some structural problem underlies Japanese manufacturing industry. In relation to IP, neither quality nor quantity of patents contribute to acquire (or keep) global market share, the slide says. |
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| The Author also introduced the book written by Prof. Kenichiro Senoo, Univ. of Tokyo. See the slide (right). Prof. Senoo compares the Japanese LSI companies with Intel. Japanese companies, altogether, have about 10,000 patents but lost 490B yen in business operation in 2009. Intel, on the other hand, has about 320 patents and gained 64B yen of operating profit in 1st quarter of 2009. This is a shocking contrast and urges us a serious study and solutions. Prof. Senoo argues the necessity of trinity management of business, R&D, and IP strategies. |  |
The Author quotes a schematic diagram of the meaning of "Strategy", as shown in the slide (right). Though the scheme was written in J. C. Wylie's book "Military strategy: A general theory of power control", it seems very illustrative in variety of areas. The Author writes 'We tend to focus on this, i.e., technique. Psychological inertia'. [*** As the Author writes we (and myself) tend to focus on techniques, such as TRIZ, USIT, ARIZ, Su-field analysis, etc. We need to put more attention on approaches/tool usage, working method (when and how), organization, etc., etc.] |
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On these bases, the Author illustrates the underlying cause of failure in the slide (below-left). He says that the choice of stronger 'sequential strategy' (i.e., seeking for visible results) and weaker 'cumulative strategy (i.e., accumulating implicit knowledge and seeking for creation and ideal) is the cause of defeat/collapse of business. The slide (below-right) is the Author's vision, taken from his concluding part. For the success of business, he recommends to strengthen cumulative strategy by using 'trinity management of business, R&D, and IP'.
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The Author's model of Trinity management of business, R&D, and IP strategies is illustrated in the slide (below-left). He further shows the role of TRIZ as a common language for strategy and problem resolution (slide (below-right)).
Now the Author starts to discuss about the IP strategy (slide (right)). The patent strategy should consist of 3 aspects. (a) Patent power: strengths and volumes of the patent themselves, (b) Information power: ability of detecting, analyzing, negotiating and managing the information of own company and the competitors, and (c) Organization power: abilities and competence of the organization involved in the patents. He seeks for utilizing IP to contribute business. |
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Then the Author discusses about the levels of invention (slide (right)) according to the Altshuller's scheme (levels 1 to 5) and expanding the scheme toward lower levels. In TRIZ sense, resolution of contradiction is a clear criteria for obtaining the patents. In the slide (below-left) the levels of invention are described some more detail in terms of Patent Agency's screening standard. Level 1 and Level 2 are simple improvements/inventions, which are hard to obtain patents in common sense. However, even these levels of inventions may have chances of getting patents, the Author says. The IP specialists (slide (below-right)) should be a mentor to inventors and management executives, and should guide them to patent acquisition and to brushing up the inventions. |
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In the slide (below-left), the Author discusses some technical points for overcoming the Patent Agency's screening standards by use of TRIZ. The slide (below-right) shows a concrete case of 'magnetic card and its usage'. The invention was made in 1981 in Anritsu. It was related to the prepaid magnetic cards for public telephones. To show the amount of money left in the card, combination of a numerical sequence and holes were designed. The numerical sequence was chosen nonlinear, such as 100, 50, 30, 10, 5, 1, 0. The Author, as an IP specialist for Anritsu, struggled for obtaining a patent of this invention for 16 years, despite the people's suggestions of withdrawal, and finally succeeded. (He also mentions that the subsequent IC cards which contain a lot of information inside but no visible indicators failed in getting popularity and disappeared in a few years.)
The Author describes another case where companies' IP and business strategies clearly resulted in different effects. The case is related to the LCR (Least Cost Routing) patents. See slide (right). It is now well known that Mr. Masayoshi Son, CEO of Softbank, made an invention of LCR and obtained large profit by "NCC BOX" and created a basis of his business after repaying 10B yen debt. |
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However, Anritsu Corp. applied and obtained a basic patent on LCR earlier than Son, the Author writes. The slide (right) is the citation analysis of LCR patents. Anritsu applied for an LCR patent in the first half of 1985, while NEC in the latter half of 1985, and Softbank in the first half of 1986. Softbank built up the business with "NCC Box" quickly. Anritsu, on the other hand, was not much interested in the networking service business because of the company's background as a measuring devices manufacture. Nevertheless, since Anritsu obtained a basic patent on LCR, there was a possibility of using the patent rights against Softbank and other network-service companies. The Author was involved in this case as an IP specialist for Anritsu. |
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To understand the historical situation better, I would like to show you the Softbank's story before Anritsu's, reverting the order in Author's presentation. The Softbank's story in the two slides (right) is summarized by the Author from the book "Aim high! Masayoshi Son bio" (by Atsuo Inoue). In those days, business of telecommunication lines was liberated from the national operation through NTT and several new companies started their services. It was difficult for customers to choose lowest price service for each call. Masayoshi Son got the idea of LCR. He immediately made a contact to a patent office for patent search and wrote the patent application for himself on the same day. Then he made a business alliance with Mr. Okubo (Shinnihonkouhan). They developed the "NCC Box" quickly in 2.5 months. It is clear that Masayoshi Son handled all the aspects of Business, R&D, and IP in a strategic way. This is a case of Trinity management of Business, R&D, and IP strategies, the Author says. |
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Now the Author reviews the strategy of Anritsu (slide (right)). The situations of Anritsu's business are described: Anritsu, originally as a measuring device manufacturer, had a business with NTT and with NCC. It applied and obtained the LCR patent, but not in the main stream of its business. It had no development project of LCR devices and no business plan to manufacture and sell LCR. IP department was always busy. When the LCR patent was approved, Anritsu's IP department sent a sales letter to LCR manufacturer for licensing. The R&D departments were weak to make reverse engineering for revealing the LCR's infringement. The LCR manufacturer used the carrier companies for giving pressure to Anritsu's management. Thus Anritsu's IP negotiation was abandoned. |
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At the bottom of the last slide, the Author summarizes:
Patent strategy = (Strength of patent right) x (Violation detectability) x (Litigation ability + Negotiation ability)
In other words, using the Author's previous slide, this may be rephrased as:
Patent strategy = (Patent power) x (Information power) x (Organization power).*** Some details of patent descriptions are skipped in this review for the purpose of clarifying the Author's message about the importance of strategic thinking. The main message of this lecture is summarized to be:
Company's strategic power = (Business strategy) x (R&D strategy) x (IP strategy).[The original presentation slides of this Special Interest Lecture are already posted in the Official Web site of Japan TRIZ Society
| Top of this page | Abstract | Presentation Slides in PDF |
Nakagawa's Introduction (Excerpt from "Personal Report") | Presentation slides in Japanese |
Nakagawa's Personal Report of Japan TRIZ Symp. 2010 |
Japan TRIZ Symp. 2010 |
Japanese page |
Last updated on Sept. 25, 2011. Access point: Editor: nakagawa@ogu.ac.jp
