No. 33 (December 2010)

●Committee with Long History

The intellectual property technical committee has a long history. It was formed in 1969, and has held the technical meetings more than 400 times since then. Basic activity of the committee has been to discuss the approach on an emerging topic picked up every two year and report the result back to each member company.

●Intellectual Property Directly Resulting in Profit

The latest theme was "Making further profit with a patent".

The necessity of maintaining supporting organizations within the internal organization has never been questioned before. However, because of severe global economic situation, many companies are advancing outsourcing of supporting organizations. Some companies no longer have the human resources organization, for instance. The intellectual property section is facing the similar situation with greater difficulty than ever to show the value of its presence. The committee picked up this issue as the latest theme, and discussed how to visualize the role of the intellectual property section, of which presence directly results in profit of the company.

●Cooperation among Companies via Patent

When the intellectual property was called an industrial ownership, both regulatory systems and individual companies had clear meaning on establishing the right to exclusively use the property. However, the attempt to protect the exclusivity to use a proprietary technology owned by one company and produce a profit via the patent can no longer make sense in the accelerated shift from an industrial society to an advanced information society.

Current approach to proactively make a patent profitable is reaching a point even to sell it off. There is also a discussion to openly disclose patents, though this approach is not yet making a good progress in Japan. The other approach is the cooperation of companies, each of which provides supplementary property in order to countervail against the surrounding intellectual environment. Among various types of cooperation, special attention is currently paid on a cooperation based on patents, especially the one called "open innovation".

●For Additional Profit

No other organizations but only the intellectual property section can pursue additional profit via the open innovation to the core business profit.

The committee collected and examined a lot of cases from various angles. The learning was then summarized from the viewpoint of how the exploitation of intellectual property can be possibly pursued. The summary is considered useful for the member companies, as it provides how to make the intellectual property a visible profit.

● Review of Criticism; "Harmful to Human Body" and "Source of Environmental Pollution"

In early '60, some scholars publicly reported in Japan that the detergent was harmful to the human body and some reported the environmental pollution problem caused by the drain water after laundry. The anti-detergent campaign still existing today such as the detergent is harmful to the human body can be traced to the discussion at that time.

There are still some people in the country, who are insisting and advertizing that the detergent is harmful, that the surface-active agent is a ringleader of the environmental pollution, or that the detergent therefore shouldn't be used.

A general consumer exposed to such plausible "danger" information feels uneasy by all means. This is, of course, not a problem if the information is scientifically correct, but definitely a problem as the source of the information is wrong.

The purpose of this report is to review such information against the detergent by examining its human safety and environmental impact again from both science and international point of view.

● From "Science" Point of View

Generally, the safety or danger information cannot be used for judgment if it is not acceptable from science point of view. It is considered that the information is scientifically proven only when 1) the information is the result academically studied based on technically sound hypothesis and experiment, and 2) two or more specialists verify the result. The new finding must be first published on an academic journal, and then the result should be examined and verified by two or more specialists. Only result in the published research paper is then considered as an academic finding. In other words, the result is determined accurate, impartial and scientifically proven only after the same experiment is conducted afterwards and confirmed that a similar result is obtained by two or more specialists. If the opinion that the detergent is harmful is correct, a lot of scientists should have supported the research result.

● From "International" Point of View

Reviewing how the issue was handled in other countries is also an important approach.

A similar problem is sure to occur in every country in the world, if the detergent currently used all over the world in daily life is harmful. Understanding how the international organization such as WHO has corresponded up until now must be of use for the settlement of the issue.

Now that the chemical safety measures on the global basis are required, corresponding to an issue by exchanging information among countries has become a common practice. The idea and method of risk assessment is globally shared, and accelerates establishment of regulation in each country, which is designed to provide the careful manufacturing, handling and use of chemicals along with the safety confirmation. In this global situation, there is no evidence anywhere in the world that the detergent is harmful and thus the use should be prohibited.

● Anti-detergent Opinion 50 Years Ago Completely Rejected

A campaign that the detergent was harmful was brought about in Japan 50 years ago. While it was not a theory verified in a scientific manner, it rapidly became a matter of major concern because it was announced to the media, which sensationally published the topic. Furthermore, a plausible theory that the detergent had carcinogenesis or teratogenicity came out and gave impetus to the commotion in the mass media.

The issue was then systematically reviewed, and the academic conclusion was finally drawn in 1983. At that time, five scholars with academic expertise on not only safety but also environmental pollution verified the issue by collecting all domestic and overseas research papers, documents, technical data, etc. The conclusion was that there were no recognizable concerns on the safety of the detergent. Since then, no technical arguments or researches which are contradictory to this conclusion, i.e. the detergent is safe, have been issued.

● Environmental Issue from International Risk Management Approach Point of View

What is the situation like in foreign countries?

There are no other countries than Japan, where the detergent was considered harmful and its safety became a public issue, except South Korea, where activists in Japan "exported" the issue and raised a discussion on the safety for a certain period of time.

In foreign countries, the issue was not the human safety but the environmental impact. The foaming issue in the sewage plant and the river first took place because surface-active agent used in the initial detergent, ABS, was not easily bio-degraded. The same issue also occurred in Japan. This issue was solved by switching the surface-active agent to LAS, which has excellent biodegradability. In Japan, the replacement of the primary component was completed by 1972.

In the area of environmental impact, the eutrophication issue by phosphate has happened inside and outside Japan besides the foaming issue. Prompt correspondence to this issue was made in Japan by removing phosphate from the detergent. The phosphate assumed to be the cause of eutrophication has been no longer used in the detergent in Japan since 1984 except for a special usage.

Environmental impact of chemicals is now checked under various restrictions and management systems developed by the international cooperation. Basic approach for the chemical management is to apply the management technique developed by the idea of risk versus hazard. Having such a holistic international approach in place, trying to boycott only the detergent amongst a lot of causes influencing the aquatic environment is not only "scientifically" incorrect but also "internationally" strange.

● Dermal Toxicity

It is important to give consumers the cautionary information including safety of the chemical. However, it is not acceptable for a company to induce consumers to purchase its own product by overstressing harmfulness or danger of other companies’ products and fueling uneasiness, unless the information is correct in a scientific manner.

Information with a word, "dermal toxicity", was frequently appeared in Japan in recent years. The Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI) executed the business suspension order to one of distributors in 2008. The case subject to the violation for the administrative disposition was that the distributor brought a selling campaign as if only their product is safe by showing a video or DVD with an expression, "You will be suffered from a cancer in the future, if you continue using a dishwashing detergent sold by the detergent manufacturer, because the poisonous substance contained in the product will be accumulated in your body through the skin. Our product contains only natural ingredients with no chemical substances used." The order of METI clearly indicates that there was no scientific evidence on the dermal toxicity information insisting that the detergent and cosmetics in current market had a safety issue.

Such safety information with no scientific basis appears in the mass media once in a while and never disappears. What background and problems are there on this issue? Professor Masaru Oya of Yokohama National University, who has researched consumer information regarding environment & human safety, and science on cleaning & detergents throughout years, points out that the source of the information is one of the problems.

● Problem of Sending Uneasy Hazard Information

The source of the anti-detergent information has been changing gradually since around 2000. Till then, a group derived from networks that had worked on the original anti-detergent campaign succeeded the core role for the movement. Their activity was mainly to publish the information in the book, announce it in the lecture, etc. It seems that their activity has diminished lately, but only conclusive information is reused and appears in the internet just as "Detergent is bad" after that. Now a day, it is rare that safety of the detergent becomes an issue among people called a consumer leader. It is believed because the common understanding and acceptance to a scientific conclusion that the detergent is safe has gradually but firmly established with time. Current problem is that a part of the past campaign is still fragmentally used in the advertisement of "Danger ? Not buy” commercial, even though it was completely rejected by the experts. It can be said that the caller of this type of agitation information often uses the information without understanding the science behind it. Moreover, because the expression, "It is earth friendly" or "The environment is improved", is often used, the caller even mistakenly considers that he is doing something good for the people and the earth.

In case of the dermal toxicity issue, a part of the problem was that the caller was a scholar but was not a specialist in this field. People easily trusted him because he was a scholar; however, he was even a virtual amateur in the field out of his own expertise. Some distributors then abused his theory, which was developed without verification by the past researches or special knowledge about the detergent or chemical characteristics of the surface-active agent.

● Safety Information on Detergent Antiquated?

In order to judge whether or not it is the "Danger ? Not buy" commercial, it is important not to blindly swallow what is claimed but to find out its conflicting opinion and compare each other. This is not easy, however, for a general person.

Even the mass media sometimes reports it without examining enough. As an example, a pressman of one national newspaper once published a wrong article by recognition with "After all, the detergent might be bad because hundreds of information on the internet cited that the detergent is bad".

It is a big problem if such situation to say "antiquating" the safety information has become the hotbed of the "Danger ? Not buy" commercial. The industry should keep actively sending information on the safety of the detergent, and appeal to the mass media to send correct information.

● Current Status and Perspective of Oleo-chemical Manufacturers

The survey group visited manufacturers and public institutes, which handle squeezing & refining oil, a fatty acid & glycerin, various derivatives, and finished products as well as the plantation.

Since the previous investigation in Malaysia was made 10 years ago, current production capacity was compared with that of 10 years ago. As a result, it was concluded that new plant construction or further capacity increase are reaching the ceiling, though the production capacity has increased about twice versus 10 years ago in the entire country of Malaysia. Only two manufacturers out of nine manufacturers investigated had a plan to expand the plant. Business expansion by M&A and consolidation with a major capital are expected in the future. As one of examples, KLK OLEO Group attempts to expand the business by acquiring a Chinese company that carries the surface-active agent business. Moreover, manufacturers with business priority to the development of high-value-added products are increasing their presence while many manufacturers try to expand the business by specializing in the current product area.


● Current status and Perspective of Palm Oil & Coconut Oil Production

Sustainability for vegetable oil is getting more important due to the increased demand with the growing world population. Palm oil is suitable for the efficient production expansion, because it has better yield (about 4t/ha/year) than that of coconut oil (about 1.5t/ha/year). However, there is a restriction in the farmland expansion, as it is equally important to deal with a problem on the environment like the ecocide by the deforestation of tropical forests. In response to this issue, Malaysian Palm Oil Board, the government institution in Malaysia, makes efforts toward technical development on the improvement of breed and the improvement of the yield.

In the Philippines, development of the farmland appropriate for the coconut cultivation has almost completed, and Philippine Coconut Authority, the administrative body in the Philippines, makes efforts to technical development on the yield improvement in the present farmland and the improvement of breed.


● Sustainability of Oil & Fat Industry and RSPO Certification

Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO), a neutral international non-profit organization, has been established in order to promote the sustainability correspondence of the palm oil industry. RSPO carries environmental and social activities for the palm oil industry to be useful for all the stakeholders and provides the certification system for achievement of the sustainable palm oil production. It also advances the activity to widely spread it to the world.

So far, the rate of oil with the RSPO certificate is limited to about 10% of the total production in Malaysia (about 1% of total amount of distribution). It is, however, expected that some actions towards the RSPO certification system are required along with the increased demand, although the demand to the fatty acid is still limited in the fatty acid manufacturers at this moment.


● Soap and Detergent Market

The sales site of soap and detergent was also investigated as a market research in this survey. While products made in Europe and the USA occupied shelves of the store in Manila, a lot of cheap solid bar detergent and unit wrapped detergent were also observed. On the other hand, a lot of laundry detergents to meet the demand for the bulk purchase (3-5kg) were sold in the store in Kuala Lumpur.

The market size of the laundry detergent is about 25.9 billion yen and the market size of soap including liquid soaps is about 16.6 billion yen in Malaysia. The detergent market is expanding, though the total market is much smaller than that of Japan. Especially, it seems that the liquid laundry detergent and liquid body shampoo market are increasing. It is believed that there is a potential to advance the conversion from granular detergent to liquid detergent in the future.