About TDK | Intellectual PropertyTDK and Intellectual Property

Origin of TDK’s Intellectual Property

Patents are closely related to the birth of TDK. Based on the spirit of creativity “creating values that do not yet exist in the world from the level of materials,” TDK’s founder, Kenzo Saito, took interest in a world-first magnetic material called ferrite that had been invented by Dr. Yogoro Kato and Dr. Takeshi Takei of the Tokyo Institute of Technology. At that time the uses of ferrite and the possibility of its commercialization were completely unknown. But when they saw how eager Saito was to wager on the potential of ferrite and commercialize it, the two doctors decided to transfer the ferrite patent that they possessed to him. Subsequently Saito succeeded in putting Oxide Core, the first-ever ferrite core product, on sale. This spirit of creativity has been handed down in TDK to this day, and our intellectual property continues to support it.

IP Activities in TDK United

Amid the ongoing metabolism of our business, through cross-border M&A we have welcomed various overseas companies as members of the TDK Group. The TDK Group is an amalgamation of team members (employees) and companies with diverse histories, cultures, and customs. We call this unique amalgamation of the TDK Group, which has taken shape in this way, “TDK United.” In addition to the distinctive mechanisms and corporate cultures of each company, intellectual property systems differ from country to country too, so global optimization cannot be realized simply by transplanting domestic management in Japan per se to Group companies overseas. Therefore, we are globally strengthening coordination with not only business and development divisions, which are the wellspring of invention, but various other divisions as well, thereby contributing to the further development of the TDK Group.

Five Core-Technology and IP

Ever since our founding, the TDK Group has possessed technologies supporting creative Monozukuri (manufacturing excellence). We call these our Five Core-Technology. They are "materials technology" applying the technology fostered in the commercialization of ferrite; "process technology" to draw out the properties of materials to the full; "evaluation and simulation technology" to advance the development process; "product design technology" to integrate multiple components and improve performance; and "production technology" to support stable mass production through the development of original engineering methods and equipment. By constantly improving these Five Core-Technology, TDK has given birth to innovations that have had an enormous impact on society, such as ferrite core, magnetic tape, multilayer chip inductors, and magnetic heads. As we have been doing so far, going forward too, through the appropriate protection and utilization of intellectual property rights, we will turn out new products and solutions in tune with the times.

Promotion of IP Intelligence

TDK has provided products that are essential to the applications that drive industry in each era including audio and video devices, PCs, and smartphones. Today also, we possess much intellectual property relating to rechargeable batteries and sensors, which are indispensable for the two major transformations that are advancing worldwide, namely, green transformation (GX) and digital transformation (DX). Through these technologies, the TDK Group is contributing to the transformation of society.

In 2024, as an expression of our determination to continue promoting this cycle of transformation, we compiled the “TDK Transformation” long-term vision.

Under this “ TDK Transformation” vision, we are striving to transform our approach to the intellectual properties as well. We are not only protecting technologies that are the current source of customer value creation as intellectual property but also utilizing IP landscaping to identify markets that will emerge in the future due to major transformations in society and create intellectual property that will be the source of future customer value creation. By promoting this IP intelligence strategy, we will align the TDK Group’s IP strategy and business strategy and realize business growth into the future.