OMRON opens royalty-free use of its patents for Universal Manufacturing to realize a symbiotic society

• May 14, 2025

OMRON Corporation (HQ: Shimogyo-Ku, Kyoto; President and CEO: Junta Tsujinaga) has been on a journey of realizing a symbiotic society since 1972, when OMRON established a special subsidiary, OMRON Taiyo Co., Ltd (Location: Beppu City, Oita; President: Junichiro Tsuji) as Japan's first factory for the differently-abled. As part of this effort, OMRON has announced that it allows royalty-free use of 20 patent rights* for technology of "Uni-Mono," meaning Universal Manufacturing (Manufacturing is "Monozukuri" in Japanese), invented by OMRON Taiyo as of May 14, 2025.

*Patent rights (including those pending examination) owned by OMRON Corporation and created by OMRON Taiyo, including design rights, utility model rights, etc.

The "stamping jig," one of the technologies to be allowed for royalty-free use

"Uni-Mono" is an initiative to create a workplace where everyone, regardless of disability, can work to their full potential. It was proposed by OMRON Taiyo in 2017 to realize a "symbiotic society" where all people can participate in society in an inclusive manner. The broader vision for "Uni-Mono" is not just enhancing manufacturing sites with improvements in equipment, processes and manuals but also creating a supportive and growth-oriented environment for people with disabilities.

OMRON has been accumulating this "Uni-Mono" technology internally as its own patents, but as a leading company aiming to realize a symbiotic society, we have decided to make it widely available to society. By enabling free-use "Uni-Mono" patents, OMRON aims to encourage companies to work together to promote the creation of a workplace where everyone can work actively, regardless of whether or not they have disabilities.

Outline of Patent Releasing
We publish the patented technology and IP policy on the website of OMRON Taiyo Granting licenses to use patents on condition of "acceptance of Yuni-Mono's patent openness policy".

　

Example 1: "stamping jig"

Feature

When lot numbers are stamped, conventional jigs cause misalignment and variation in the way lot numbers are stamped. In this invention, by fixing the object to be stamped and the ink table on the base, the system allows the stamping part to be rotated back and forth between the object side and the ink table side by the operator's rotary operation, while the stamping part can be stamped by the pressing operation.

(Reference: https://youtu.be/mhtumGzxu1A)

　

Example 2: "Stopper chair"

Feature

When a person who has difficulty with his/her legs and feet stands up on a chair with his/her hands on the chair, he/she could fall over if the chair rotates. By pressing down on the elbow rest when standing up from the chair, the downward force is used to stop the rotation of the seat surface. A seat stopper mechanism and a floor stopper mechanism that can be further linked to stop horizontal movement on the floor. This allows even those who are anxious about standing up to be able to stand up stably.

(Reference: https://www.instagram.com/reel/DIxVCIEOewK/?igsh=bmZrcHU5cmRkYjhi)

For more information on other patents, please see the following
https://components.omron.com/taiyo/unimono/patent.html

　

About OMRON Corporation

OMRON Corporation is a leading automation company with its core competencies in Sensing & Control + Think technology, and is engaged in a wide range of businesses including industrial automation, healthcare, social systems, device & module solutions. The company transcends the value creation by leveraging diverse data acquired through these businesses and linking it to the data solutions business. Established in 1933, OMRON has about 27000 employee worldwide, working to provide products and services in more than 130 countries, contributing to the creation of a better society.
For more information, please visit https://www.omron.com/global/en/.

About OMRON Co., Ltd

OMRON Taiyo Corporation was established in 1972 as Japan's first welfare factory through the cooperation of welfare facilities, disabled people, and private companies, based on the resonance of the philosophy of Kazuma Tateishi, founder of OMRON, and Yutaka Nakamura, M.D., founder of the House of the Sun, a social welfare corporation. Since its establishment, the factory has created an environment in which both people with and without disabilities can work comfortably together at the production site through the allocation of human resources adapted to individual handicaps, various technologies, and the ingenuity of all employees, and has produced various switches, including relay sockets for control devices and thumb-rotary switches, which are OMRON's main products. OMRON's main products, such as relay sockets for control devices and switches, including thumb-rotary switches. In addition, through factory tours and lecture activities, OMRON contributes to expanding employment opportunities for people with disabilities and improving their working environment by providing its knowledge and expertise on employment of people with disabilities, which it has accumulated over the years.
For more information, please visit https://components.omron.com/taiyo/.