FUJISAWA - ANALYSIS OF PATENTING 1992-1996

Fujisawa is the fifth largest pharmaceutical company in Japan. It has an unusually high R&D investment in comparison to overall profitabilit y and remains an almost exclusively Japanese company with a uniquely h igh proportion of Japanese inventors. The majority of patents filed ar e anti-infectives, with almost twenty inventions each year. These are dominated by beta-lactams and quinolones. Fugisawa's more important in ventions are filed first in the UK, leading to families of worldwide p atents claiming UK priorities. However, lack of protection in some sma ller markets may become a disadvantage for Fujisawa as the company exp loits its inventions internationally. The following article profiles t he patenting activity of Fujisawa between 1992 and 1996.