Canon is the World’s Largest & Most Advanced Patent Holder – Gains Advantage By Clearing Patent Risk through OIN 2.0.
With more than 80,000 patents worldwide and over 4 decades ranked among the Top 10 patent holders in the United States, Canon is recognized as one of the world’s most sophisticated and forward-thinking Intellectual Property (IP) organizations. The company’s scale, diversity of technologies & global brand leadership makes its IP strategy a model for companies navigating increasingly software-driven markets.
At the core of Canon’s approach is a refined open/closed patent strategy. Canon maintains strong protection around its unique core technologies, cross-licenses broadly applicable technologies — including Open Source Software (OSS) — to encourage healthy industry collaboration & to safeguard high-value proprietary know-how as trade secrets. This balanced model enables Canon to push technology forward while supporting a cooperative global innovation ecosystem.
The leading provider of consumer, B2B & industrial digital imaging solutions, Canon’s decision to join OIN 2.0 is a natural extension of this philosophy. OIN 2.0 provides a patent cross-license for foundational Open Source technologies, expanding as Open Source grows into new domains. Through participation, Canon reduces meaningful patent risk associated with using OSS — an essential consideration for any company expanding more into hybrid hardware–software products, AI-enabled systems, or cloud-connected services. For Canon, OIN 2.0 also reinforces cross-industry collaboration in fast-moving fields where interoperability and shared innovation are increasingly important.
This highlights a powerful message for other enterprises: even the world’s largest and most advanced patent holders gain advantage by clearing patent risk through OIN 2.0. The OIN 2.0 model enables companies to collaborate in shared, non-competitive technological domains — such as OSS — while still using their patents to protect differentiated innovations at the heart of their businesses.
“Canon has been a long-standing member of the Open Invention Network community. The organization has been instrumental in safeguarding Open Source software from patent aggression, thus enabling significant, shared innovation at foundational levels,” stated Hideki Sanatake, Managing Executive Officer, Group Executive, Intellectual Property & Legal at Canon. “As OIN transitions to a shared funding model, we are committed to continuing our support for its critical mission of providing patent protection, expanding the community, and mitigating patent threats to an Open Source ecosystem that has become vital for every business sector.”
