# Denso Wave

> Denso Wave is the Japanese company that invented the QR code in 1994, and it holds the patents. It chose not to enforce them for use of the standardised format, which is why QR codes are free for everyone to generate and read.

Source: https://useqr.app/glossary/denso-wave · Last reviewed 2026-08-21 · UseQR is free forever, MIT licensed, no signup.

---

## The origin

Developed by a team led by Masahiro Hara at Denso Wave, a Toyota Group subsidiary, to track
automotive parts. Existing barcodes held too little data and had to be scanned in the right
orientation. The 1:1:3:1:1 finder ratio was chosen after surveying printed materials for
the pattern least likely to occur by accident.

## The licensing decision

Denso Wave holds patents on QR technology but declared it would not exercise them against
users of the ISO-standardised format. That decision is why QR codes became ubiquitous while
comparable proprietary 2D codes did not.

"QR Code" is a registered trademark of Denso Wave. Using the *format* is free; using the
*name* as your product's brand is a trademark question.

## What is not free

Some proprietary variants — SQRC (encrypted), FrameQR (design-oriented) — are licensed
products. The standard QR code described in ISO/IEC 18004 is not.