License
The use of QR codes is free of any license. The QR code is clearly defined and published as an ISO standard.
Denso Wave owns the patent rights on QR codes, but has chosen not to exercise them. In the USA, the granted QR code patent is US 5726435, and in Japan JP 2938338 . The European Patent Office granted patent "EPO 0672994". to Denso Wave, which was then validated into French, UK, and German patents, all of which are still in force as of November 2011.
The word QR code itself is a registered trademark of Denso Wave Incorporated. In UK, the trademark is registered as E921775, the word "QR Code", with a filing date of 03/09/1998. The UK version of the trademark is based on the Kabushiki Kaisha Denso (DENSO CORPORATION) trademark, filed as Trademark 000921775, the word "QR Code", on 03/09/1998 and registered on 6/12/1999 with the European Union OHIM (Office for Harmonization in the Internal Market). The U.S. Trademark for the word "QR Code" is Trademark 2435991 and was filed on 29 September 1998 with an amended registration date of 13 March 2001, assigned to Denso Corporation.
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