Company patents
NEC CORPORATION
NEC Corporation's patent strategy reveals a strong, sustained focus on Computer Vision, representing 26.6% of its portfolio, despite a -0.4% YoY decline in 2025. Surprisingly, the company has shown an emerging focus on Medical Diagnostics & Surgery and Healthcare Informatics, with patent filings growing by +176.1% and +260.0% respectively in 2024, indicating a strategic pivot towards the medical device sector.
Patent Trend by Technology Area
Yearly patent publications since 2023
Product themes
Product-level themes inferred from filings since 2023, with category chips showing where each theme appears. Select a theme to filter the patents below.
8,707 US filings (since 2023) · 12 categories · 52 themes
Methods and systems for improving the quality of video streams, generating intermediate frames, or continuously locating and following objects within a sequence of images, even under occlusion.
Methods and apparatus for detecting objects and determining their three-dimensional position and orientation (pose) using imagery or point cloud data, often for navigation, surveying, or environmental understanding.
Techniques and hardware architectures for optimizing the radio frequency (RF) front-end, antenna systems, and beamforming strategies in wireless networks to improve signal quality, capacity, and interference mitigation.
Systems that employ imaging and image processing to automatically detect defects, verify states, or ensure quality control in manufactured goods, printed materials, or industrial processes.
Methods and apparatus for improving the visual fidelity, resolution, or compression efficiency of video signals, often through advanced processing, up-scaling, or neural network-based filters.
Systems and methods for authenticating users, devices, or applications, authorizing their access to resources based on policies, and managing digital identities across various platforms.
Systems and methods that use imaging technologies, computer vision, and augmented reality to provide real-time guidance, localization, and visualization during surgical procedures or for detailed anatomical assessment.
Systems and methods utilizing artificial intelligence, particularly large language models and neural networks, to extract, summarize, generate, or categorize information from unstructured or semi-structured data sources.
Utilizing machine learning, particularly deep learning, to analyze medical data such as images, sensor readings, or physiological signals for disease prediction, diagnosis, or treatment assessment.
Development of devices and methods for non-invasive or minimally invasive collection and analysis of physiological data, often from wearable sensors, to monitor health, activity, or specific conditions.
Techniques and hardware for autonomous systems to gather and interpret data about their surroundings, including obstacle detection, object recognition, and depth estimation, to inform control decisions.
Systems designed to streamline and automate various commercial transactions, including mobile-enhanced processes, secure online checkouts, customer service interactions, and privilege issuance, often leveraging digital authentication.
Applying artificial intelligence and machine learning techniques to enhance cryptographic systems, such as generating encryption models, improving zero-trust architectures, or enabling privacy-preserving computations like federated learning.
Devices and software systems designed to facilitate physical rehabilitation, track human movement, evaluate posture, or assess biomechanical parameters for injury recovery, surgical planning, or performance improvement.
Systems and methods for monitoring, controlling, and optimizing the movement of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) and other aircraft, including real-time connectivity, flight planning, and route modification.
Systems that combine data from multiple camera sensors or capture multiple images from different perspectives or qualities, often involving image processing techniques like synthesis to create enhanced or comprehensive views.
Systems and methods for encrypting data at a fine-grained level (e.g., per data unit or based on sensitivity) and controlling access to it, often involving delegated authorization, contextual policies, or secure data sharing.
Techniques for generating human-like text or other content using large pre-trained models, often involving prompt engineering, speculative decoding, or multi-modal inputs for content creation.
Development and optimization of novel neural network layers or architectures specifically designed to improve performance or efficiency for computer vision tasks.
Techniques utilizing deep learning models like Generative Adversarial Networks (GANs) or diffusion models to create new images, modify existing ones, or generate synthetic data based on various inputs or conditions.
Systems that process data to provide personalized recommendations, predict events, or automate decision-making processes based on learned patterns, user behavior, or environmental factors.
Specialized hardware, architectural designs, and computational methods to improve the speed, efficiency, and security of artificial intelligence and machine learning model execution, particularly for inference and data processing.
Systems and methods for non-invasive or minimally invasive collection and analysis of physiological data (e.g., blood pressure, electrolytes, genetic markers, B cell repertoire) to assess patient health status, screen for conditions, or aid in diagnosis.
Technologies for transmitting critical alerts and information during emergencies, often involving wireless networks, specialized devices, and protocols to ensure timely and targeted communication to users or emergency services.
Mechanisms to facilitate the secure exchange of data between different entities or systems while enforcing usage policies, managing digital content rights, and ensuring data consistency during replication or transfer.
Techniques for combining data from disparate sensor types (e.g., cameras, radar, mobile device signals) to achieve a more robust and comprehensive understanding of an environment or subject, often leveraging machine learning for interpretation and correlation.
Developing and applying machine learning algorithms that leverage quantum computing principles, such as quantum circuits or autoencoders, for tasks like simulation or data processing.
Automated systems using image processing and artificial intelligence to identify, classify, and assess the extent of damage to structures or objects, supporting maintenance or insurance claims.
Utilizing dedicated hardware components, secure enclaves, or trusted execution environments to perform cryptographic operations, enhancing security, performance, or isolation from software vulnerabilities.
Algorithms and systems for generating, optimizing, and executing trajectories for autonomous vehicles or robots to move through an environment, often involving obstacle avoidance, route validation, and goal reaching.
Designing user interfaces and interaction methods specifically for mobile or wearable devices, enabling control of external systems, monitoring user states, or facilitating real-world transactions.
Techniques for rendering, interacting with, and managing content within augmented or virtual reality environments, including spatial tracking, gaze interaction, and dynamic multi-application display management.
Systems that use user data, preferences, and machine learning to generate tailored advice, product recommendations, goal-setting plans, or contextual information for individuals across different domains.
Techniques for protecting data at rest or in backup, ensuring its integrity, confidentiality, and verifiable origin, often involving encryption, unique identifiers, or secure repositories.
Systems that integrate digital technology, sensors, or connectivity to monitor, track, or automate aspects of medication administration, often providing data feedback, personalized recommendations, or secure logging.
Systems enabling wireless communication between vehicles (V2V), vehicles and infrastructure (V2I), or vehicles and other entities (V2X) to share information for traffic management, safety, and navigation.
Methods for training machine learning models across multiple decentralized devices or servers while keeping data localized, often involving aggregation of model parameters and secure communication.
Methods and systems for generating, distributing, updating, rotating, and securely destroying cryptographic keys to maintain data confidentiality and integrity over time, including quantum key distribution.
Mobile applications and systems leveraging wireless communication and location data (e.g., GPS, RFID, geo-fencing) to provide context-specific services, transactions, or user interactions.
Technologies that create dynamic and interactive visual content for displays, including virtual/wearable systems, by generating overlays, replacing input streams, or merging real-time user actions with digital environments.
Focuses on using distributed ledger technology (DLT) like blockchain to secure financial transactions, manage digital identities, or ensure data integrity and traceability across various applications.
Focuses on the mechanical design, articulation, and actuation of hand-held or robotic surgical instruments, including improvements in stapling, cutting, grasping, and tissue manipulation.
Focuses on the design of medical equipment for ease of use, mobility, and adaptability in various clinical or home environments, including carts, mounting systems, and compact form factors.
Techniques for combining and analyzing information from multiple distinct data modalities (e.g., text, image, video, audio, sensor data) to derive richer insights or improve system performance and decision-making.
Technologies for securing, managing, and transacting with virtual currencies, non-fungible tokens (NFTs), and other blockchain-based digital assets, including hardware wallets and tokenization schemes for various purposes.
Digital platforms and systems that deliver tailored therapeutic interventions, guidance, or recommendations to patients based on their individual health data, biometric feedback, and computational models (e.g., AI/ML, physiological simulations).
Processes for creating or manipulating three-dimensional digital representations of objects or environments, including mesh generation, surface fitting, and depth estimation from multiple views.
Methods and systems for integrating, transforming, and managing complex or domain-specific data from disparate sources into a unified structure, often for specific applications like social networks, genomics, or business forms.
Techniques for improving the performance, efficiency, or practicality of fully homomorphic encryption (FHE) schemes, often involving hardware accelerators or optimized algorithms for operations like bootstrapping and key-switching.
Systems and methods for automating the lifecycle of machine learning models, including pipeline deployment, model management, versioning, and configuring for different inference environments.
Specialized cybersecurity solutions designed to protect industrial control systems (ICS), SCADA networks, and other operational technology environments from cyber threats and unauthorized access.
Techniques and hardware architectures designed to efficiently generate and display complex 3D graphics, particularly for interactive applications like virtual reality, focusing on speed and visual quality.
Patents
Showing 1-3 of 3
Real-time Graphics Rendering