Intellectual Property

Intellectual property is an important management resource for LY Corporation Group (the “Group”). By actively investing in and utilizing intellectual property, the Group will promote open innovation and contribute to solving social issues and sustainable development of an information technology society.

Intellectual Property Policy

In its Code of Conduct, the LY Corporation Group stipulates its basic policy to appropriately protect intellectual property rights as an important asset for its business, and also to respect the intellectual property rights of third parties.

Based on the concepts: "Safe," "Open," and "Fair," the Group will proactively build an intellectual property portfolio of patents, trademarks, and designs as "proof of safety and security" to enable users to safely use its services over a long period of time,  to enable its business partners to collaborate and cooperate with the Group with confidence based on open innovation, and contribute to solving social issues and the sustainable development of information technology society.

Safe : To contribute to the realization of a safe and secure service environment for users, partners, and everyone else.

Open : To create innovation and contribute to the sustainable development of the Internet based on the belief that the continuous development of the Internet will lead to the perpetual growth of the Group.

Fair : With the spirit of fair play, to contribute to ensuring an environment of free and fair competition.

Growth Strategy and Intellectual Properties of the LY Corporation Group

In addition to the three business segments delineated in the Group's growth strategy, namely the Media Business, Commerce Business, and Strategic Business (Fintech), the LY Corporation Group focuses on AI technology as the foundation for creating new value in each business. The Group also actively builds a portfolio of patents and other intellectual properties regarding technology, services, brands, and designs, which are important management resources.  Furthermore, a portfolio is being built to reinforce the Media and search domains, which are positioned as the Group’s re-growth strategy.

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1) AI Technology

Based on AI technology, the LY Corporation Group will implement AI in all of its diverse business domains, including Media, Commerce, and fintech, to realize unparalleled convenience and ease of use for each and every user.

Patent Portfolio

The Group focuses on building an intellectual property portfolio of patents and other assets related to the results of the use of AI technology.

Positioning Map in the AI Domain

Using the Patent Score, a positioning map* was created on the asset value of the AI-related patent portfolio possessed by the Group in Japan.

*Created by the Company using "Biz Cruncher" of Patent Result Co., Ltd. Patent Score is an indicator of the degree of attention being paid to each patent. The higher the Patent Score, the higher the patent is rated as having "a high degree of market attention." The vertical axis represents the overall strength of each company's patent assets, evaluated in terms of both quality and quantity, and the horizontal axis represents the individual strength of the most valuable patent in its portfolio. The size of the circle indicates the number of patents.

Patent Registrations in the AI Domain (Cumulative Number of Registrations from 2018 to 2022) 

LY Corporation

Strategies of Offensive and Defensive AI Applications

For Yahoo! JAPAN-related services, offensive efforts are those that directly improve business performance, such as ad targeting and product recommendations; and defensive efforts are those that ensure safe and secure use, such as monitoring abuse and maintaining the interests of customers and users.

For the LINE app, LY Corporation (the “Company”) will leverage its accumulated know-how and resources of AI technologies and services gained from LINE CLOVA, such as natural language processing, text, image (including facial recognition), voice recognition, and speech synthesis, to create value in services provided by the app, including messenger and recommendation functions.

Use of Multi-Big Data

AI applications require a large amount of data (big data) to support them. LY Corporation  utilizes the diverse big data it collects and accumulates for the evolution and development of AI, and also works towards its commercialization.
The Company will democratize consumer understanding through its Data Solution service, which is based on data obtained from its various services.

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ZOZO

ZOZO upholds "More Fashion × Fashion Tech - Explore your style. Make you delighted. -" as its management strategy and actively uses the vast amount of data and technologies it possesses.
In particular, ZOZO conducts research and development to incorporate recommendation and search technology powered by AI technology into its products, aiming to build more convenient websites and improve its services.

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2) Media Business

Fully leveraging the strength of the  LY Corporation Group, i.e., its unique and diverse assets, the Group will provide new marketing solutions that no other competitors can provide. For example, the solutions will encompass not only the acquisition of new customers by capturing the awareness and interest of users but will also comprehensively support purchase as well as retention of good customers. By leveraging group synergies to accumulate data related to payments using PayPay and CRM using the LINE app, the Group will provide solutions that encourage consumers to take actions such as making and repeating purchases, which will lead to customer retention.

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Patent Portfolio

The Group focuses on building an intellectual property portfolio of patents and other assets related to the results of the Group's growth strategy of the Media Business.

Positioning map in the Marketing solution Domain

Using the Patent Score, a positioning map was created on the asset value of the marketing-related patent portfolio possessed by the Group in Japan.

Patent Registrations in the Marketing Solution Domain (Cumulative Number of Registrations from 2018 to 2022) 

LY Corporation

In addition to capturing awareness and interest through ad distribution (search ads and display ads) to users who visit Yahoo! JAPAN Top Page and other services, Yahoo Japan will provide marketing solutions to encourage purchase (through the collaborations with PayPay) and repurchase through collaborations with the LINE app (using LINE Official Account, etc.) in the future. Through these efforts, the Company will realize 1:1 marketing that offers efficient and continuous proposals to each user.

Using the LINE communication app as a gateway, the Company aims to create a smart portal that connects people, information, services and everything else, whether online or offline. Among these, the Company positions advertising, communication, and content as its core businesses and will provide various solutions to make users' lives more convenient.

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3) Search Business

In the search business, LY Corporation is working to improve service quality especially in the highly profitable area of search queries. Specifically, it is working to enhance search results for queries such as commerce-related search, which includes products for shopping purposes; and local information-related search, which includes information on local restaurants, hotels, events, beauty salons, and so forth. The Company is also working to provide new search experiences using advanced technologies such as generative AI.

Patent Portfolio

The Group focuses on building an intellectual property portfolio of patents and other assets related to the results of the Group's growth strategy of the search business.

Positioning Map in the Search Domain

Using the Patent Score, a positioning map was created on the asset value of the search-related patent portfolio possessed by the Group in Japan.

Patent Registrations in the Search Domain (Cumulative Number of Registrations from 2018 to 2022) 

4) Commerce Business

In the Commerce Business, the LY Corporation Group strives to realize a shopping experience where "you can get what you want, when you want it" through initiatives that cross online and offline worlds and allow customers to make online purchases from inventories in physical stores. It also works to strengthen logistics and improve delivery quality by leveraging the assets of ZOZO, ASKUL Corporation ("ASKUL"), and external partners. In addition, to further expand its Commerce Business, the Group aims to make social commerce utilizing the LINE app, a new growth driver. The Group will build an ecosystem encompassing the entire Group and realize a world where new shopping experiences based on communication, such as team purchases, social gifts, and live commerce, will become the norm.

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Patent Portfolio

The Group focuses on building an intellectual property portfolio of patents and other assets related to the results of the Group's growth strategy for the Commerce Business.

Positioning map in the Commerce domain

Using the Patent Score, a positioning map was created on the asset value of the commerce-related patent portfolio possessed by the Group in Japan.

Patent Registrations in the Commerce Domain (Cumulative Number of Registrations from 2018 to 2022) 

LY Corporation

In Yahoo! JAPAN Shopping, LY Corporation aims to improve delivery quality and sustainably enhance user experience by leveraging the assets of ZOZO, ASKUL, and partners such as Yamato Holdings Co., Ltd. The Company has also launched "X (Cross) Shopping" services allowing online purchases from inventory in brick-and-mortar stores, and is preparing to introduce a "My Price Initiative (dynamic pricing)" for users making in-store purchases. In addition, the Company  is deploying the Quick Commerce service, leveraging the assets of ASKUL and Demae-can Co., Ltd. By understanding the instant delivery needs of the last mile, the Company aims to develop this business in the future.

Making social commerce—utilizing the LINE communication app—as the growth driver, the Company will provide new features and value through synergies generated from the Group's services, such as Yahoo! JAPAN Shopping and ZOZOTOWN. The Company is working to promote new communication-based purchasing experiences, including gifting experiences using LINE's social graph, such as LINE GIFT, and shopping experiences through collective purchases by friends or groups.

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ZOZO

As one of its three strategic pillars, ZOZO is committed to increasing traffic other than "buy" and is focusing on building new business models and providing services and features.

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5) Strategic Business (Fintech)

The Group will use the full force of the user base of PayPay, the most prolific smartphone payment method in Japan, to enlarge the cashless market in Japan and to expand the business domains to all types of financial services starting with payment.

Patent Portfolio

The Group focuses on building an intellectual property portfolio of patents and other assets related to the results of growth strategy of the fintech business.  

Positioning map in the fintech domain

Using the Patent Score, a positioning map was created on the asset value of the financial and payment-related patent portfolio possessed by the Group in Japan.

Patent Registrations in the Fintech Domain (Cumulative Number of Registrations from 2018 to 2022)

Financial usinesses under PayPay Brand

Integration of Names of Financial Business Firms and Services to PayPay Brand

In hopes that a familiar name will encourage users to use the LY Corporation Group's services with affection, the names of the financial business firms and services have been integrated into the "PayPay" brand to strengthen ties with PayPay in financial services such as banking, credit card, and insurance, provided by financial firms invested in by the Group or the LY Corporation, and to grow its finance business.

Development of the Financial Services Market Starting with PayPay

Mini apps are offered as a one-stop feature  in PayPay so that users can use financial services such as loan, asset management and insurance with ease. Furthermore, in order to provide financial services that are optimally personalized for each user, the Group is developing technologies that combine the Group's big data and AI technologies, based on the premise of user consent.

LY Corporation

With the messaging service LINE as the starting point, LY Corporation offers variety of new financial services such as LINE Pay which enables payment and monetary transfer, LINE Score, LINE Pocket Money, and LINE BITMAX collaborations have also begun with PayPay. Furthermore, the Company utilizes blockchain technology to develop new financial services by leveraging the LINE app's userbase and bringing money, which is an indispensable part of daily living, closer to users.

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Brand (Trademarks and Design)

The LY Corporation Group is actively building a trademark portfolio to protect the trust of users in the corporate brands of its group companies such as LY Corporation, ZOZO, and PayPay, and the service brands provided by each company, and to ensure the safe and secure use of its services.
The  Group also considers the design of UI/UX, etc., which is created based on its user-first management philosophy, to be an important element in building its brands. A design portfolio is also built to protect the trust that users place in the design of UI/UX, etc., and to ensure the safe and secure use of the Group's services.

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Developing an Environment That Creates Intellectual Property

In order to contribute to the development of an environment that fosters innovation, the LY Corporation Group has an invention incentive system to encourage the creation of outstanding ideas and designs, etc. It also works to create a place where engineers and designers can produce exceptional ideas, designs and other creations.

Initiatives Taken to Encourage Creations

The Group is actively involved in planning venues for generating ideas for new businesses/services and R&D, as well as events such as hackathons and ideathons, which are unique to the culture of the Internet industry. With an eye on the market and technology trends, the Company contributes to the creation of ideas that will bear fruit in the future, and works to turn those seeds into a portfolio of intellectual property rights at an early stage.

Creation Incentive System

In addition to using the employee invention system to provide financial incentives (based on the application and registration of patents, and their evaluation) for the creation of ideas and designs, etc., particularly outstanding ideas and designs are shared with the entire company.

Building a Safe and Secure Trading Environment (Measures against Products That Infringe Intellectual Property Rights)

In order to realize a safe and secure trading environment for users and rights holders, the LY Corporation Group works to prevent the distribution of products that infringe intellectual property rights.
From 2003, LY Corporation administers the Yahoo Japan Intellectual Property Rights Protection Program to promptly take measures, such as removing items that infringe on intellectual property rights based on notification from the rights holders. Together with rights holders and rights holders' associations, Yahoo Japan has founded the Council for Intellectual Property Protection on Internet (CIPP) in 2005, welcoming related government agencies as observers. The Guidelines for Prevention of the Distribution of Intellectual Property Rights Infringing Goods on the Internet have been formulated, under which rights holders and Internet operators join hands to prevent the distribution of infringing goods.
In addition to these initiatives, utilizing a proprietary supercomputer specialized for deep learning, Yahoo! JAPAN Auction has improved its infringement detection rate by introducing a counterfeit listing detection AI that detects counterfeit listings based on information learned from a vast amount of past transaction data. In this way, the Group will continue to realize a safe and secure trading environment through the use of data and AI technology.

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Promoting Open Innovations

OSS (Open-Source Software)

In order to contribute to the development of an information technology society, LY Corporation releases the results of its research and development and intellectual property generated within the Company to the public in the form of OSS to be used in a variety of situations.
The OSS that is released to the public is protected with patent rights and provided free of charge to users of the OSS. The LY Corporation Group believes that providing a safe and secure environment for using OSS contributes to the development of OSS, which in turn leads to the sustainable development of the Group's technology and service development environment.

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Introducing Intellectual Property Activities

Japan Patent Office "Intellectual Property Strategies That Lead Management Strategy to Success" (Former Yahoo Japan Corporation)

LY Corporation’s intellectual property activities to build a useful, safe, and healthy Internet ecosystem, in cooperation with customers and partners, are introduced.

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Received Intellectual Property Achievement Award 2021(Former Yahoo Japan Corporation)

In the Intellectual Property Achievement Awards 2021 hosted by the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry and Japan Patent Office, Yahoo Japan received the Award from Commissioner of Japan Patent Office in the category of "design-based management" for the first time. Yahoo Japan was recognized for its company-wide efforts to refine UI and UX with a "user-first" approach, from management down to the production floor, as well as its focus on building an intellectual property portfolio centered on patents, designs, and trademarks as proof of safety and security.

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