Intellectual Property Management

KDDI regards its intellectual property as an important management resource for sustainable business growth and promotes intellectual property activities integrated with the business strategy.

Promotion of Innovation Centered on Telecommunications

KDDI creates and leverages intellectual property and intangible assets―including technology, inventions, knowhow, brands, designs, data, software, partnerships, and supply chains―across various stages of research and development, service planning, and operations. These assets form a crucial foundation that supports the company's management.
To advance the Satellite Growth Strategy, which aims to expand focus areas centered on 5G communications, we have been working to enhance our patent portfolio and acquire know-how to improve our business competitiveness in the above domains. As a result, both the number of patents and our patent scores (indicating the level of attention a patent receives) have increased.

Number of KDDI's Patents and the Patent Score Trend [1]

Graph: Number of KDDI's Patents and the Patent Score Trend (patents area: Core, Finance, DX, Energy, Orbit2 [2], Others)

  1. [1]The patent score is calculated by KDDI using Patent Result Co., Ltd.'s Biz Cruncher.
  2. [2]Mobility, Space, Healthcare, Web3, Metaverse, Sports and Entertainment domains.

We will further promote innovation in our focused areas and expand our patent portfolio and know-how with competitive advantages to expand our business.

Intellectual Property and Intangible Assets Supporting the Enhancement of the "Power to Connect"

(1) Intangible Assets Supporting High-Quality Telecommunications

As the core of our Satellite Growth Strategy, communications are an indispensable part of social infrastructure, and we continue to make ongoing improvements to quality.
We analyze a broad range of inputs, including requests received at customer centers, feedback posted on social media, communication logs from devices and base stations, and data from external evaluation agencies. Each year, we implement more than 100 network tunings, such as reviewing communication routes across the entire network.
The technologies and know-how accumulated through these steady efforts constitute the intangible assets that underpin KDDI's high-quality telecommunications. Through rigorous data analysis and customer surveys, we develop precise forecasts of future usage trends, ensuring readiness to respond flexibly to rapid societal change and increasingly diverse customer needs. Leveraging intangible assets unmatched by competitors, we provide unique, high value-added services that only KDDI can offer, contributing to the sustainable enhancement of corporate value.

Initiatives to Improve Network Quality

Image: Initiatives to Improve Network Quality

Intangible assets supporting high-quality telecommunications

Chart: Intangible assets supporting high-quality telecommunications

(2) Intellectual Property and Intangible Assets Supporting Differentiated Network Coverage

In addition to communication quality, we are also focused on differentiating our network coverage. Through au Starlink Direct, we deliver on the promise that "if you can see the sky, you can connect anywhere" directly from a customer's smartphone.
KDDI has been involved from the outset in establishing the necessary regulatory frameworks to make this possible. At the World Radiocommunication Conference 2023 (WRC- 23), one of our employees participated as a representative of Japan, successfully paving the way for international institutionalization. Domestically, we have contributed to the creation of technical conditions for direct satellite communications―such as implementing spectrum-sharing coordination with other systems―leading to regulatory revisions, license acquisition, and ultimately, the launch of the service.
We have also engaged in negotiations and coordination with device platform providers and manufacturers to ensure that "satellite mode," which enables text messaging, location sharing, and other functions via satellite communications, can be widely integrated into devices. Our technical expertise and know-how have been applied to tuning work that enables coexistence with terrestrial frequencies while maintaining the quality of experience for au customers.
By leveraging KDDI's technology, know-how, and partnering capabilities, we have generated high value-added services for our customers. Beyond the use of intangible assets such as technology, know-how, and partnerships, we also acquire intellectual property rights, including business model patents for differentiated network coverage, to strengthen customer touchpoints, build competitive advantage in services, and support business growth.

Business model patents for differentiated network coverage

Image: Business model patents for differentiated network coverage (Patent 7662911)

The server receives specified information and the destination from the user's device via a satellite station and transmits it if the destination is registered.

Enhancing Brand Value

Centering on the owned media "KDDI Tobira," which communicates our initiatives toward realizing "KDDI VISION 2030," we work to foster empathy for and expectations toward the KDDI brand through various customer touchpoints, including TV commercials, sponsorship activities, and the brand experience facility "GINZA 456."
In addition, as a Platinum Partner of the Future Society Showcase Program "Future Life Expo: Future City" at Expo 2025 Osaka, Kansai, Japan, we jointly exhibited with Hitachi, Ltd. under the theme "Society 5.0 and the Future City." Through experiential exhibits presenting the vision of a future city utilizing communications and digital technologies, we were able to gain broad recognition for KDDI's technological capabilities and commitment to addressing social issues. We provided experiences that inspired children―the next generation of leaders―to think about and act on their own futures, while also applying our technologies and ideas in the exhibits to demonstrate their value to society and embody our contribution to a sustainable future.
Based on our brand message "Tomorrow, Together," we will enhance our brand value by creating new experiential value toward a future of growth and development together with our partners.

Deepening Partnerships for Business Co-Creation

In the "Satellite Growth Strategy," expanding services that generate synergies with our strength in 5G communications requires collaboration with a diverse range of partners, and we are working to deepen these partnerships.
Examples include the "KDDI ∞ Labo" business cocreation platform, through which a coalition of large corporations supports the growth of startups, and the "KDDI Open Innovation Fund," a corporate venture capital fund backed by the KDDI Group. Both are positioned as important intangible assets for creating businesses.

Promoting Intellectual Property Initiatives for the KDDI Group's Business Growth

KDDI recognizes that the success of co-creation projects with Group companies, startups, and other partners requires those partners to properly execute intellectual property activities, such as avoiding infringement risks and obtaining patents. Accordingly, we provide support to ensure that optimal intellectual property activities are implemented, tailored to the specific needs of Group companies and investee startups that face challenges in their intellectual property management systems.

Change in the Number of Intellectual Property Support Recipient Companies (Group companies and investee start-ups)

Graph: Change in the Number of Intellectual Property Support Recipient Companies (Group companies and investee start-ups)

Society