October 25, 2006
Furukawa Electric has recently established a concealment know-how proposal system and its incentive scheme, whereby inventions that strategically avoid patent filing ---e.g., manufacturing processes to be concealed from other companies--- are compensated for in-house as with regular patent-filed inventions. Upon receiving an application from research or business divisions, the Intellectual Property Department assesses whether the application should be patent filed or concealed as know-how, and those assessed as concealment know-how are, after being defined as such, put under the control of the Intellectual Property Manager of each research or business division as a trade secret (*1). The status of concealment management will be audited periodically in order to maintain the know-how values.
The management system for concealment know-how will be introduced into the Group companies, thereby aiming at improving intellectual competence of the Group as a whole.
1. Background
In the past, there were cases we have not filed patents for inventions of certain manufacturing processes in order to prevent drain-out of the technology. But the know-how management system at that time was somewhat unsatisfactory in that the scope of technologies to be concealed was not clearly specified and that, unlike the regular patent application system, the system lacks in an inventor incentive scheme.
2. Objective
The objective of this new system is to have inventions that are concealed as know-how but not patent filed protected by law, by means of a written proposal system in which the scope of technology is specified and the proposed invention is put under control. In addition, appropriate assessment of employees’ achievements is expected to encourage them to create know-how-oriented inventions that lead to cost reduction and products performance upgrading, promoting technology development activities.
3. Contents of the System
First, each technology department of in-house research and business divisions submit written documents to the Intellectual Property Department specifying the technology scope of the know-how.
Then, based on the requirements of secrecy, usefulness and public unknownness, the Intellectual Property Department assesses whether the contents should be protected as concealment know-how, and if the invention is defined to be such, know-how monetary incentives of the same amount as those for patent filing are paid. Past inventions will also be considered as an object of incentives if they have consecutively satisfied the requirements until now.
Inventions assessed as concealment know-how are clearly defined as an object of concealment so as to enhance the effectiveness of secrecy management; and are put under intensive control of the Intellectual Property Manager of each research or business division as a trade secret to be protected by law.
The status of concealment management will be audited periodically to confirm whether the three requirements mentioned above are satisfied, and the contents of concealment will be reviewed in order to maintain the proprietary nature of the know-how.
*1 Trade secret
The Unfair Competition Prevention Law prescribes that a trade secret must satisfy the conditions of secrecy, usefulness and public unknownness. Concealment know-how can be legally protected when it is managed as a trade secret.