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Protection of Intellectual Property

Impact

Number of international Trademark Applications Filed under the Madrid Protocol in 2024
51
（Ranked 17th worldwide and 2nd among Japanese companies)

Basic Concept

Section “6. Intellectual property” of the Mizuno Corporation Ethical Standards stipulates that “1) Implementing thorough measures for protecting intellectual property created by the company” and “2) Respecting all third-party intellectual property and not infringing on the intellectual property rights of others.” For our own intellectual property, we actively acquire and use intellectual property rights, including patents, utility models, designs, and trademarks, in Japan and overseas. We also strive to detect counterfeit products to ensure our brand value and user safety. For the intellectual property of others, we have established guidelines and various screening systems to prevent infringement on their intellectual property rights.

Protection of our own intellectual property

Encouragement of intellectual property acquisition

Mizuno, through its technological and design developments, strives to secure the technical superiority of its products by protecting the results with patents and designs. We also endeavor to strengthen our product brand by protecting the naming of goods and services with trademarks. To ensure such protection of intellectual property, we provide intellectual property education to employees involved in intellectual property, heightening their awareness towards the acquisition of rights.
As of April 1, 2026, Mizuno held 366 patent rights in Japan and 228 patent rights overseas. The number of trademark rights held was 1,721 in Japan and 3,363 overseas.

Furthermore, we operate an incentive system, granting appropriate rewards to employees who have created patents, utility models, and designs. This promotes the active acquisition of patents and other rights, cultivating an environment where original product development continues. For fiscal year 2025, the implementation award recognized 10 patents, and the registration award was presented to 26 patents and 5 designs.

Detection of Counterfeit Products

The sale of inferior counterfeit Mizuno products not only leads to the loss of the companyʼs social credibility but also significantly impacts user safety, potentially causing accidents.
We have requested a crackdown on counterfeit products at customs, and in the countries where such products are sold, we collect information in cooperation with our subsidiaries at each overseas base and conduct investigations and crackdowns as needed.

In fiscal year 2025, we continued to respond to changes in commercial transactions, including online sales, by monitoring the sale of counterfeit products on major global e-commerce platforms and social media sites, and by taking actions such as requesting the removal of infringing listings.

Respect for the intellectual property of others

We conduct business activities that utilize a wide range of intellectual properties, including brands, designs, patents, and portraits of famous athletes. In order not to use the intellectual property of others without permission at any stage, from development to sales, we established the Guidelines on Intellectual Properties Managed by Mizuno (Intellectual Property Guidelines) in August 2008 and posted the Mizuno Design Order Guidelines on our website in 2016. Through this, we ensure that the importance of intellectual property rights is understood by employees. We also ask our business partners to understand their importance and comply with intellectual property rights rules.

For advertising materials as well as products, we have established a system for conducting a preliminary check on compliance with various rights, including portrait rights and trademark rights, and with the Act against Unjustifiable Premiums and Misleading Presentations and other laws and regulations so that we will not commit any violations. We have established and operated a system in which all advertising materials, including magazine advertisements, web advertisements, and storefront posters, should be approved of the database by the evaluation and judgment division before being released to the public.

As we venture into new product fields, we exercise increased caution regarding others' technical rights. We conduct checks during the design review stage of planning and development to avoid any infringements. In fiscal year 2023, there were no instances of violation regarding marketing communication regulations or voluntary standards.

Mizuno Design Order Guidelines

Future Challenges

  • We will continue to raise awareness and promote shared values regarding intellectual property by helping all employees better understand the connection between our intellectual property and business activities. We believe this will lead to more effective protection of our intellectual property assets. In fiscal year 2026, we plan to conduct a new trademark training program for the sales department.
  • We will expand the scope of monitoring counterfeit product sales on e-commerce platforms, particularly in Southeast Asian countries where our brand exposure is increasing strategically. Based on our findings, we will take appropriate actions such as requesting shipment suspensions.