NEC launches an intellectual property DX business to support the efficiency and sophistication of intellectual property operations.

In recent years, intellectual property has played a crucial role in enhancing corporate competitiveness, significantly influencing decision-making in mergers and acquisitions (M&A) and collaborations. Additionally, strategic evaluation and management of intellectual property portfolios, as well as the utilization of intellectual property to realize business and technology strategies, are closely linked to increasing corporate value.
Against this backdrop, many corporate intellectual property departments are undergoing transformations. While there is an increasing need to quickly organize vast amounts of information and make accurate decisions, these departments face various challenges, such as a shortage of intellectual property professionals with specialized knowledge and heavy reliance on specific individuals, making it difficult to improve overall organizational productivity.
Although the use of AI for improving efficiency and sophistication is progressing, intellectual property operations require advanced expertise in technology and law. General-purpose generative AI systems currently cannot fully comprehend technical content or provide sufficient legal judgment, resulting in unmet expectations. Furthermore, resource constraints that prevent companies from individually investing in the development of AI tailored for intellectual property tasks remain a significant challenge.
To address these challenges, NEC will promote the digital transformation of intellectual property operations and launch a new business aimed at supporting the efficiency and sophistication of intellectual property departments.
NEC has accumulated extensive experience and insights in intellectual property strategy formulation, creation, protection, and utilization through collaboration among its research and development, new business development, and intellectual property departments. With one of Japan’s largest patent portfolios (43,000 patents, Note 1), NEC has achieved numerous successes, including establishing patent superiority in AI, monetizing intellectual property, and creating new businesses based on intellectual property. By combining the expertise gained through these efforts with proprietary AI technologies, specialized consulting, and the outcomes of cutting-edge internal DX initiatives guided by the Client Zero concept (Note 2), NEC has realized the commercialization of Intellectual Property DX. This business will contribute to the efficiency of routine tasks within intellectual property departments and the sophistication of operations aimed at enhancing corporate value, such as generating new business opportunities using intellectual property insights and evaluating and managing intellectual property using data.