The Japan Corporate Patent & Financial Statistics Data Bank links financial and securities data with information on Japanese patent applications and grants for over 8,000 companies. Published by San Francisco-based IPB Corp. the database includes corporate profiles of over 1,500 companies. These companies comprise a cross-section of 17 industries where corporate performance is particularly dependent on intellectual property.
Using any of the 182 metrics calculated within the Data Bank, users can generate custom scatter charts for decision-making and reporting purposes. The second phase of the product consists of company rankings within any desired technical field, as well as overall and industry-specific rankings relating patents to corporate performance.
"We have seen intellectual property grow in importance around the world," said Yoshihisa Ueno, president, IPB Corp. "In Japan, which has placed great emphasis on human capital due to its relative lack of natural resources, companies have always known how important it is to develop intellectual assets. Like any other skill, some companies are more effective at this than others.
"However, the path from research to profitability is very complicated and still insufficiently understood, making it challenging for both management and investors to make informed decisions. What IPB has achieved is to apply numerical analysis to find important statistical indicators at various points along the value chain. Then, companies for which intellectual property is a core component of value can identify and address areas of strength and weakness. Furthermore the investment community has effective measurements it can use to better gauge corporate performance."
Development is already underway on a version of the Data Bank covering U.S. patents and financial filings and should be available during the first quarter of 2007.
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