Fujifilm: Innovating a Corporate Makeover

Fujifilm recently launched a new global brand campaign called ‘Never Stop’ to position itself as a company that has moved beyond its photographic film business into other realms. After the demand for the photographic film saw a drastic downturn in the early 2000s, Fujifilm reinvented its business structure by venturing into different fields such as healthcare, cosmetic products, materials and multifunctional devices and printers.

Fujifilm adopted a new corporate slogan in 2014 – “Value from Innovation” – as a move to spread the message of the company’s shifting business landscape. In Fujifilm’s words, the new campaign also highlighted its commitment to “providing new value through innovative advanced technologies, contributing to the solution of various issues facing society”.

Fujifilm has been continually evolving into a diversified technology company over the recent years.

The innovation in its digital products and services across various industry segments lies at the heart of its growth. We take a look at Fujifilm’s technology and patent assets to see how the company’s IP portfolio has kept pace with its business transformation.

Patenting Trends

Figure 1: Published Applications – Growth [Click on image to enlarge]

Fujifilm owns a total of 131,262 currently active published patent applications, out of which about 62,000 are applications and 66,000 are granted patents. The filings show a surge in growth post 2015, as seen in Figure 1.

 

Figure 2: Key Geographies [Click on image to enlarge]

 

Figure 2 shows that the home jurisdiction of Japan, with a nearly 60% share of the published applications, is the preferred geography for Fujifilm to file in. The US is the second preferred jurisdiction for filings, followed by China.

 

 

 

 

 

Survival through Diversification

The company that began in 1934 as a photo-film business ruled the Japanese market for nearly a decade. Fujifilm has been flexible and quick to adapt to the market shifts. It started providing digital X-ray systems to hospitals in the early 1980s, when the digital revolution was in its nascent stages. Since then, Fujifilm has been constantly innovating and acquiring companies to diversify its business. The company’s current technology assets also address the pharmaceutical, cosmetics and healthcare sectors.

Over the years, Fujifilm has built a library of over 2 million chemical compounds and is now employing them in its pharmaceutical and cosmetic compositions. The application of chemistry across different sectors proved to be a strategic and profitable move for the company. This shift is also evident in its patent filings.

Figure 3: Evolution of Technologies – CPC Code Analysis [Click on image to enlarge]

As seen in Figure 3, the technologies covered by the CPC codes like B41C 2210/24 (Polymer binder for forme), B41C 2210/22 (Organic non-polymer additive for forme), B41C 1/1016 (Imaging layers), B41C 2210/04 (Removal of non-exposed areas of a forme), B41C 2201/14 (Binder or adhesives for forme) displayed an increased year-on-year growth till around 2008, but their growth has tapered off in recent years.

The technologies covered by the CPC code H04N 2201/0094 (Multifunctional device) show the highest year-on-year growth post 2014. Also, the technologies such as ‘Hardware or software aspects of TV signals’ and ‘Photolithographic production of textured or patterned surface for images’ possess the maximum number of high value patents in Fujifilm’s portfolio.

Fujifilm calls its business restructuring as the “Second Foundation” which has been built upon innovative products and business diversification. Read our report to get more insights into the company’s patent assets and value creation through innovation.

Get the Patent Portfolio Report.


See Relecura in action

The contents of this report were referenced in an IAM article. To read the article, click here
Home > Fujifilm: Innovating a Corporate Makeover
A custom built AI Platform to support, generate, and manage innovation

Streamline your innovation ecosystem through the assimilation of the latest AI capabilities for a competitive edge.

  • AI powered custom solutions for Innovation Intelligence
  • Automation of competitor analysis
  • Identification of emerging technologies and companies
  • Whitespace Analysis and Potential M&A Targets
  • Strategic decision making supported by real-time data

Drive growth through insights that matter

Investment management

The dilemma of where, when, and how much to invest in the innovation space is a critical factor...

Know More

Due Diligence

M&A is a strategic process, aimed at a mutually supportive and complementary association, resulting in a synergized end...

Know More

Monetization

Innovation reaches a dead-end if it cannot be monetized when the innovator fails to trace and reach out...

Know More

Portfolio organization

Management of IP assets is costly and labor-intensive. Relecura offers classifier tools for categorizing and organizing data automatically...

Know More

AI Platform for innovation intelligence

Relecura’s forte is its flexibility and adaptability to address specific problems and close-fitting solutions. The basic problem is that innovators are often not able to identify the industrial and commercial significance of their innovation as due diligence takes long days of analyses, necessitating a deviation from their regular and familiar activities. And it is a tedious iteration process. The latest custom AI capabilities help you assess the commercial value of innovation and technical due diligence can be automated to yield meaningful and immediate results. The repetitive tasks could be automated, and your time and energy could be devoted to strategic missions.

Portfolio organization

Management of large Innovation data is costly and labor intensive. Relecura offers AI-powered classification tools for categorizing and organizing data automatically and instantly. Automated Categorization against suitably chosen training documents keeps your innovation portfolio updated and lucidly classified, amenable to instant analyses.

Technology trends

Relecura offers fully automated custom AI solutions to track and explore developments in different technology areas. You can stay updated on the latest developments in different companies and technologies of your interest, which facilitates intelligent decision-making.

Competitive intelligence

Competitive intelligence is a prerequisite for strategic decision making. Relecura provides tools to track the innovation and publication dynamics of your competitors, based on which you can prioritize your innovation initiatives and thus hone up your competitive edge.

Investment Management

Relecura uses white space analysis within its product platform known as the TechTracker, an AI-powered tool that provides insights on various technological trends and offers a peep into your competitor’s patent arsenal. Additionally, it helps you keep track of emerging organizations and technologies to help you manage your budgets and investments, optimally.

What our valuable customers are
saying about us?

“Relecura helps us remain innovative by allowing us to see where the competition is playing through the landscaping tools. It lets us see where there are new opportunities and helps us focus in on those areas in an intelligent way.”

 

Alex M.,
IP Manager, a Multinational Technology Corporation, US

Relecura helps us ride the crest of innovation wave keeping a competitive edge.” It helps us identify the white spaces and where the opportunities are.”

John N,
Director of IP at a Global Data Storage & Semiconductor Company, US

‘Our policy decisions regarding the focus areas of research and investment are being taken based on the insights offered by the custom AI tool, TechTracker, which offers a clear picture about the emerging technologies, companies, and the white spaces on the technology landscape of the key players. This helps us optimize resource utilization and maximize returns,’

Subu N.,
Innovation Manager at an Indian Conglomerate, India

‘The Classifier tool, introduced by Relecura, is indeed useful in managing and updating large datasets. After having subscribed to that AI-powered tool, in-house big data management and analyses have become easier and hassle-free.”

Fabian L.,
R&D, a Global Semiconductor Company, US

“Relecura platform is fueled by the latest technologies, and the tools that the platform hosts make our in-house innovation management smooth and accurate, in addition to being synchronized with the global technology frontline.”

Viktor P.,
Innovation Strategy at a Global Consumer Product Company, South Korea
0M+
TOTAL RECORDS
0M+
ASSIGNMENT TRANSACTIONS
0+
TRUSTED USERS
0+
JURISDICTIONS

Recent Blog Posts

Make faster, better technology decisions with Relecura

Connect with our Specialists

Our professional services offer training and support to minimise time-to-value on the Relecura platform and make more timely, confident IP decisions