Intellectual Property

Intellectual property initiatives

■Providing Wacoal's Unique Value to Customers

At Wacoal, our mission is to be the closest presence to our customers, so that they can be true to themselves. To that end, we strive to create products and services that empower them. Wacoal's strengths lie in its technology, designs, and brand power, which are achieved through design work based on mind-body science, and through high-quality manufacturing and customer service. By protecting and utilizing these through intellectual property rights, we are able to provide unique value to our customers.
Wacoal also regards intellectual property rights as important assets that are closely related to all business activities, and recognizes them as a means to secure a competitive advantage and as a strategic investment for the future. In particular, in areas such as DX strategy, CX strategy, and new business development—which are core areas for our growth strategy—we are working to create new value and build a business and technology portfolio through the proactive leveraging of intellectual property.

■Strict Response to Infringements of Our Intellectual Property Rights

Both domestically and internationally, we take strict measures against the emergence of counterfeit products and infringements of our intellectual property rights by other companies, such as unauthorized use of trademarks and patents. With the globalization brought about by the Internet in recent years, we recognize that cases where brand value suffers damage pose a significant business risk. Particularly dangerous cases of this are the primarily social media–based emergence of fraudulent "impersonation" advertisements that misrepresent our brand. In response to these issues, we are working to protect our customers both in Japan and overseas by thoroughly warning consumers, tracking and monitoring sales channels, and taking measures to eliminate infringements.

■Respect for Other Companies' Intellectual Property

In the fashion and apparel industry, including the innerwear industry, intellectual property is increasingly being recognized as an essential element for business from the perspective of fashion law. In light of this situation, we believe it is essential to respect other companies' intellectual property rights more than ever before, and to conduct our business activities fairly and honestly based on our founding spirit.

Promotion system

Wacoal has established a department that specializes in intellectual property. Focusing on pursuing the following initiatives, this department contributes to improving brand value and corporate value by leveraging intellectual property to strengthen competitive advantage.

• Branding, business, and development support (Inventions, brand formation support, patenting, etc.)
• Measures against infringement products and fraudulent advertisements (Eliminating things that damage the brand or development results)
• Thorough avoidance of intellectual property risks (Preventing infringement of other companies' rights, conducting highly accurate investigations, etc.)

Education for employees

We aim to improve the intellectual property literacy of our employees in order to create sources of new value through the correct understanding and utilization of intellectual property. Our education for employees includes sharing information about intellectual property trends in the industry and holding practical seminars to explain specific examples, in order to thoroughly raise awareness of the importance of intellectual property.