Aeronext CEO Toji appointed as a member of the Vision Committee of the Intellectual Property Strategy Headquarters of the Cabinet Office for a sixth consecutive term

Aeronext Inc. (Shibuya-ku, Tokyo; CEO: Keisuke Toji; hereinafter “Aeronext”) is pleased to announce that on September 3, 2024, Aeronext CEO Keisuke Toji has been appointed as a member of the Vision Committee for the formulation of the Intellectual Property Promotion Plan 2025 by the Minister of State for Special Missions (Intellectual Property Strategy) Sanae Takaichi.

This will be Mr. Toji’s sixth term as a member of the Vision Committee, following the terms last year and the year before last. The current term will end on July 31, 2025.

The “Vision Committee” was convened for the purpose of formulating the medium- to long-term direction and specific measures for the Intellectual Property Strategic Vision (directed by the Intellectual Property Strategy Headquarters on June 12, 2018). As decided at the Intellectual Property Strategy Headquarters meeting on September 3, 2019, members of the committee are nominated by the Minister of State for Special Missions (Intellectual Property Strategy), who is the Vice Chairman of the Intellectual Property Strategy Headquarters, from among those who have excellent insight on the creation, protection and exploitation of intellectual property.

Aeronext has built a strong patent portfolio to incorporate 4D GRAVITY^®︎, a proprietary structural design technology that improves the stability, efficiency, and mobility of industrial drones by optimizing the aircraft’s center of gravity, as a standard feature of industrial drones, and is promoting a partnership-based platform business globally based on the 4D GRAVITY^®︎ license. Our technology and business model have won praise from various fields.

Aeronext attaches great importance to IP strategy in its domestic and international business development, and places IP strategy and management at the center of its business. We strategically build our patent portfolio not to protect our technology but to spread it around the world as quickly as possible. Since its establishment in April 2017, the company has already applied for 563 domestic and international patents, as of the end of September, 2024. Especially since 2020, we have been focusing on the logistics area, and among Japanese companies, we boast the No. 1 score* for drone patents in the logistics area.
(*Source: LexisNexis PatentSight; Analysis based on 1,600 patent families active at 2022/9/22.)
We are also working to convert all business activities generated by the new smart logistics^*1SkyHub^®*2, including drone delivery, which we have been developing since 2021, into a licensed model.

Mr. Toji, the CEO of our company, has over 18 years of experience practicing management specializing in intellectual property strategy as the CEO of Interactive Program Guide (IPG), where he led the spread and marketing of the electronic program guide “G-GUIDE”. In addition, he co-founded DRONE iPLAB (DiPL), a company that supports the development of the drone industry through intellectual property (IP), which later formed a capital alliance with Aeronext, and he has extensive experience and know-how in management specializing in intellectual strategy.

In continuing to serve as a member of the Visionual Committee, Mr. Toji will contribute to the formulation of the Intellectual Property Promotion Plan 2025 promoted by the government, based on his extensive experience and knowledge.

Reference

*1 New Smart Logistics
A public-private initiative to find solutions to the issues commonly faced by the logistics industry, such as labor shortages, environmental and energy issues, and DX areas, while utilizing digital and technology to ensure the future sustainability of logistics, which is an indispensable infrastructure for people’s daily lives. The project aims to realize the last mile joint delivery, the best mix of land and air transportation, freight and passenger consolidation, automated technology, etc., through co-creation based on an open public platform (O.P.P.) that transcends the boundaries between the industry and the outside world.

*2 New Smart Logistics SkyHub^®︎
A new smart logistics platform jointly developed and deployed by Aeronext and Seino HD that connects existing land transportation and drone logistics, as well as connecting ground and air infrastructure to deliver goods anytime, anywhere. An open and standardized platform with built-in drone delivery, operating from Drone Depots®︎ and using cars and drones as delivery vehicles, and SkyHub^®︎ TMS as the base for SkyHub^®︎ Delivery (shopping service), SkyHub^®︎ Eats (food delivery), SkyHub^®︎ Medical (pharmaceutical delivery), as well as joint delivery of packages from different logistics companies in bulk, to develop and provide services tailored to local issues and needs. The introduction of SkyHub^® not only has the logistics benefits of promoting unmanned and inventory-free operations and improving last mile delivery efficiency, but also introduces a new logistics infrastructure. Where the logistics industry facing the “2024 Logistics Problem,” SkyHub^® will contribute to solving social issues in the region, such as transportation problems in specific depopulated areas, medical problems, disaster countermeasures, and measures for the vulnerable in logistics, SkyHub^® will also contribute to address regional issues such as traffic problems in specific depopulated areas, medical problems, disaster countermeasures, and measures for the vulnerable in logistics, as well as raise the level of satisfaction of residents and communities by improving convenience and quality of life.

【About Aeronext Inc.】
Aeronext, an IP driven R & D technology startup for next-generation drones, is a company that designs the sky through technology to create a world where the sky becomes a social infrastructure, is economized, and solves social issues through drones. Our core technology is 4D GRAVITY^®︎, a unique structural design technology that improves basic drone performance such as stability, efficiency, and mobility of industrial drones by optimizing the center of gravity of the aircraft. In order implement this 4D GRAVITY^®︎ as standard equipment on industrial drones, we have constructed a strong patent portfolio and are promoting a partnership-based platform business for the 4D GRAVITY^®︎ license globally.
Aeronext has also founded a subsidiary to implement the SkyHub^® smart logistics and pursue drone delivery.
*For more information: https://aeronext.coｍ/company/

【Profile of Aereonext CEO Keisuke Toji】
In 1991, Mr. Toji joined Dentsu Inc. and focused on electronic program guides (EPGs) in the wake of the digitalization of television broadcasting and in 1999 founded Interactive Program Guide, Inc. (IPG), a joint venture between Dentsu and Gemstar Inc. of the United States. As CEO, he helped popularize and market G-GUIDE, which became the standard for EPGs. In July 2017, Mr. Toji co-founded DRONE iPLAB Inc. (DiPL) and became its Executive Vice President, and joined Aeronext Inc. as its CEO in November 2017, leveraging the capital and business alliance with DiPL. In January 2021, he was appointed CEO at the same time as the establishment of NEXT DELIVERY Co., Ltd., a subsidiary mainly engaged in the drone delivery business. In May 2022, he became a director of the National New Smart Logistics Promotion Council.　Born in Himeji City, Hyogo Prefecture, Mr. Toji graduated from Osaka University with a degree in Architectural Engineering.

*Aeronext and the Aeronect logo, as well as “4D GRAVITY^®” is a trademark of Aeronext Inc.
*Other company names and product/service names mentioned in this press release are registered trademarks or trademarks of their respective owners.