Initiatives for Intellectual Property

Basic Approach

We recognize that intellectual property is an important business asset, and in order for this to contribute to our corporate and technology strategies, we are promoting IP activities to ensure the freedom and competitive advantage of our global operations.
Furthermore, in order to realize the Toyota Boshoku group’s materiality, we will further strengthen our intellectual property by establishing a priority patent network, in addition to achieving the KPI for the number of patent applications.
We are also committed to respecting the intellectual property of others, and perform thorough investigation to ensure that neither our products nor our R&D infringes on any intellectual property.

IP Activity VMV (Vision Mission Value)

We have defined new VMV (Vision, Mission & Value) for IP activities to strengthen our IP strategies, to realize our 2030 target.
By communicating this VMV internally and externally, we are broadly sharing our approach to IP activities, with the aim of boosting empathy and co-creation with more stakeholders. We believe that this will lead to new value creation, which will strengthen our competitiveness and produce sustainable growth.
In addition, all of the members of the Intellectual Property Strategy Division proactively participated in the setting of VMV for IP activities, whereby we were able to deepen their understanding. As a result, they consider the VMV to be their own words, and are making good use of it in their day-to-day IP activities.

Overview of IP activity VMV

Vision	Creating the future of Toyota Boshoku’s technology and management through intellectual property
Mission	Take advantage of intellectual property to realize value creation and value acquisition
Value	[IP] Offense and defense [IP investment] Options & focus/utilization of rights [Human capital in IP activities] Sharing/empathy/co-creation

Intellectual Property

Visualization of patent value

We use the Patent Asset Index, provided in Patent Sight by LexisNexis, as an objective measure of our patents held in order to ascertain the current status of patents globally and conduct a comparative analysis with our competitors. We are undertaking activities to increase patent value while maintaining our patent superiority.

Comparison with competitors in the field of automotive seats

Patent application linked to our product roadmap

Each fiscal year, Toyota Boshoku utilizes the proportion of product roadmap patent applications among all patent applications as a KPI indicating the status of establishing engineering strength. In fiscal 2024, the proportion of product roadmap patent applications was approximately 30%, but by bolstering our IP activities, we increased this to around 50% in fiscal 2025. A higher proportion indicates that we are making strategic patent applications related to key development themes, which we believe leads to enhancement of our core technologies and competitiveness.

Proportion of patent applications based on product roadmap

IP Investment

Strengthening business competitiveness through IP investment

In fiscal 2005, Toyoda Boshoku Corporation, Araco Corporation, and Takanichi Co., Ltd. merged, and we consolidated the patent rights held by the three companies for automotive seats. Later, in fiscal 2016, in order to strengthen competitiveness in our seat frame mechanism function, the seat frame mechanism component development function was transferred from Aisin Corporation and Aisin Shiroki Corporation, and in fiscal 2023, we acquired patent rights to those development functions. Furthermore, in fiscal 2025, we acquired the patents held by Toyota Boshoku Seiko Corporation, which became our subsidiary in fiscal 2024, such as the patent for the long slide rail. In this way, we now have a streamlined structure able to invest in automotive seat product development, from assembly through to components and functional components. In this way, we are strengthening business competitiveness through strategic IP investment.

Number of registered patents in the automotive seat field

Human Capital in IP Activites

Developing creative human resources

Through patent application activities that lead to value creation, Toyota Boshoku aims to develop creative personnel able to continuously produce ideas. We set the ratio of company members involved in patent applications as inventors among all engineers as a KPI for the nurturing of creative human resources in intellectual property. By increasing this ratio, engineers will experience value creation themselves, which we believe will produce a virtuous cycle leading to generation of more ideas.

Number of inventors/ratio of inventors

Nurture human resources to promote value creation activities

As a new initiative for promoting value creation activities, seven members of the Intellectual Property Strategy Division took part in a training program run by the HR Strategy Division. In this program, they learned methods and facilitation skills for value creation, and are now working in the role of facilitator for in-house idea generation. These activities not only contribute to the invigoration of value creation activities, they also lead to enhancement of the skills of the Intellectual Property Strategy Division members. In addition, promoting sharing of opinions, empathy, and co-creation with related internal parties also contributes to fostering a creative environment company wide.

IP Governance Structure

From fiscal 2024, Toyota Boshoku has reported on the status of IP activities once a year at the Board of Directors meeting. Furthermore, we are implementing ongoing discussions concerning IP strategy as part of the proceedings at the R&D Segment Planning Meeting, a company-wide body.
To further invigorate IP activities, we established an IP Committee chaired by the Field Chief of the Technical Administration Field in which the heads of each engineering division take part. This committee promotes management related to IP activities through information coordination and sharing of opinions with the Board of Directors and the R&D Segment Planning Meeting. In addition, an IP Promotion Committee member is selected by each engineering-related division to promote IP activities within their division. The IP Promotion Committee WG, comprised of the Intellectual Property Strategy Division and IP Promotion Committee members from each division, undertakes the necessary training for IP activities and endeavors to resolve practical issues.