 In 1975, NEC's semiconductor operations unit, later NEC Electronics, currently Renesas Electronics, applied the trademark name "EEPROM®" to Japan Patent Office.In 1978, this trademark right is granted and registered as No.1,342,184 in Japan, and still survives as of March 2018.In February 1977, Eliyahou Harari at Hughes Aircraft Company invented a new EEPROM technology using "Fowler-Nordheim tunnelling" through a thin silicon dioxide layer between the floating-gate and the wafer.