Intellectual Property Management

We position telecommunication technologies requiring interoperability as a collaborative area that promotes standardization. Meanwhile, in the service areas of our Satellite Growth Strategy (5G communication, DX, finance, energy, LX, regional co-creation such as CATV, etc.), we differentiate ourselves in competitive domains through the "Open & Close Strategy."
Regarding standardization, we are advancing the standardization of research results for 5G/beyond 5G, based on the telecommunication technologies and experience cultivated. We are also strengthening our intellectual property acquisition efforts.
For our Satellite Growth Strategy, we envision short-term and medium- to long-term business models and strategically acquire intellectual property that enhances competitiveness and differentiation in each business model.
Furthermore, our cumulative IoT connections have significantly grown in the fields of societal infrastructure (connected cars, smart meters for electricity and gas, etc.) and globally. In December 2022, our company surpassed 30 million connections independently, becoming the top share in Japan. This achievement is largely attributed to the know-how we have developed over approximately 20 years in areas such as product development and maintenance management. We will continue to drive innovation to realize our Satellite Growth Strategy.

Cumulative Number of Patents and the Patent Score Trend

1. * The patent score is calculated using Patent Result Co., Ltd.'s Biz Cruncher, created by KDDI.
   This is calculated on an annual basis, not on a fiscal year basis.

At KDDI, we define "Tomorrow, Together" as our brand message to answer the question of what kind of presence we want to be for our customers and society. Through the evolution of the power to connect, we express our commitment to sustainably develop and grow together with our customers, partners, and society toward the future. As part of our corporate brand activities that embody our brand message, we strengthen empathy and expectations towards KDDI through various customer contacts such as owned media "KDDI Tobira" which communicates efforts towards realizing "KDDI VISION 2030," brand experience facilities "KDDI MUSEUM," and "GINZA 456 Created by KDDI."
Furthermore, our business brand, au, effectively communicates the attractiveness of our services through various touchpoints, achieving an enhancement in brand recall and image. In au's "SanTaro" series of commercials, we convey the brand's value in a friendly manner. It was selected as "BRAND OF THE YEAR 2022" in the "2022 Annual Brand-Specific CM Favorability Ranking" by CM Soken Consulting, winning the CM favorability No.1 brand award for the eighth consecutive year. We will continue to work towards further enhancing the corporate brand's value in the future.

In our "Satellite Growth Strategy," we are advancing the expansion of services that synergize with our strengths, such as 5G. Given that expanding our services requires collaboration with a diverse range of partners, we are actively deepening our partnerships.
For instance, in the past five years, we have achieved over 30 commercialization imperatives of new businesses and services for B to C markets, excluding communication. Many of these successes are the results of business co-creation with partners, including large enterprises and startups.

BtoC Market New Business/Service (Cumulative)

1. *The breakdown of the graph represents the domains of the Satellite Growth Strategies to which each business/service belongs.

To create such collaborative businesses, we have platforms such as "KDDI DIGITAL GATE", which collaborates with corporate customers to create new businesses, "KDDI ∞ Labo", a business co-creation platform that collaborates with large corporate alliances to support startup growth, and the "KDDI Open Innovation Fund", a corporate venture capital initiative aimed at supporting startup growth within the KDDI Group. These platforms are also considered important intangible assets for generating new businesses.
We will continue to work on strengthening partnerships for business co-creation in the future.

To foster the creation of new businesses and strengthen our business competitiveness, we recognize the essential role of nurturing the growth of our group companies and the startups we collaborate with. Consequently, we are actively promoting support for the intellectual property activities of our group companies and invested startups, which include activities such as invention discovery, patent infringement investigations, and IP landscape analysis.
In recognition of this support, we received the Economy, Trade and Industry Minister's Prize for companies that use IP (for the first time in "open innovation promotion company" category) at the 2018 Intellectual Property Achievement Awards held by Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry.
In the future, to continue generating new businesses and enhancing our business competitiveness, we will continue to strengthen our group's intellectual property activities.

Support for Intellectual Property Activities for Group Companies and Invested Startups

Change in the Number of Intellectual Property Support Recipient Companies (Group Companies and Invested Startups)

1. *The breakdown of the graph represents the domains of the Satellite Growth Strategies to which each business or service belongs.