Journey

I have expressed for some time in regular conversations with superiors an interest in being seconded to a domestic or overseas Group company or outside organization. A number of people have been seconded from Canon to the Cabinet Office in the past, and I have listened with interest to their stories. Before starting my secondment there were so many things that I didn’t know, and I was worried about it, but after receiving the handover from my predecessor, Keiko Takahashi, I was able to begin with peace of mind. Also, Ms. Takahashi has returned to the department that oversees the entire Intellectual Property Headquarters, and I have returned to the department that directly works with the Business and Development Departments, so we are currently able to discuss new initiatives from the perspectives of both sides.

The knowledge required to do my work in at my secondment was completely different from what I picked up from how things are done in Canon, so the hardest part was getting used to this new “normal.” For example, as I was in a position of explaining policy, it was considered “normal” to be able to provide clear answers to whatever questions were asked, and I had difficulty in getting to that level. In order to be able to answer any question it is necessary not only to understand the policy itself, but also to have a broad understanding of the social conditions and related policies behind it (design management^*2 etc.), and this is a completely different thing from patent filing & prosecution so I had to work hard to understand it. The hard work did pay off, and I was pleased to have been given the responsibility of lecturing on Business management design sheet, producing policy summaries, and coordinating with relevant ministries and agencies, etc. Also, through doing this work, I had my perspective broadened by listening to the opinions of senior intellectual property executives in various companies and experiencing the views of management towards intellectual property, helping me to be conscious of the inseparability between intellectual property and management.
Another thing that left a particular impression on me was my involvement in the formulation of the“Basic Guidelines for Spreading of Value Design Management (aiming to realize value design society for new normal).”^*3Based on the opinions of committee members and the policies of relevant ministries and agencies, I combined and selected the elements that I thought should be included. While I found it difficult to summarize everything into one basic guideline, I deepened my understanding of “value design management”. That has led me to obtain coordination abilities and to gain a vision of the future by taking an approach of formulating these basic guidelines in line with the concepts of Business management design sheet. I still think it was a very rewarding job, although I feel a little nervous about the fact that the text and drawings I created are widely available to the public for use in public documents.

• *2 Design management is “the management method of utilizing design capabilities in the building of brands and creation of innovation.”The Japan Patent Office promotes design management (Japan Patent Office website)
• *3 April 2021, Intellectual Property Strategy Headquarters Vision Committee Value Design Management Working Group (PDF)

In terms of mindset, as I already mentioned, I came to realize that intellectual property and management are inseparable and started being able to think about my own intellectual property work as if I were in the position of a company manager or business manager. For example, I started being able to think about things in terms of “What role will this patent application play in relation to the entire business? And which of the functions and technologies for realizing the provision of value are relevant?”
I think becoming more aware that patents are just one class of “intellectual property” was a major change. For example, patents are important from the perspective of exclusive monopoly rights, but intellectual property rights other than patents, including of knowhow in a broader sense may be the key to business. I began to think more broadly about what kinds of intellectual property were needed as tools to promote business, and I’m also more conscious now when acquiring new patent rights of what kind of patent needs to be acquired depending on the purpose. I think that my secondment was a very good experience even just in terms of helping me to think this way from an earlier timing.
Aside from this, through Business management design sheet I have also been able to connect with people in Group companies that I previously had no contact with, and to exchange opinions with people from intellectual property departments at other companies, expanding my network of contacts both inside and outside of the Group.