* See the follow-up article of January 14, 2021 based on more details from the JPO. The Japan Patent Office announced on October 2 that it is preparing to make all of the 800 or so kinds of office filings…
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The European Patent Office and International Energy Agency issued a report on September 22, 2020, to outline the world’s pursuit of better battery technology. It notes that for the sake of environmentally sustainable energy use and mobility, battery technology is…
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The Republic of Korea (South Korea) has been pushing for “independence” from Japan’s economic and technological influence, partly as a nationalist response to Japan’s stiff response to calls for repentance over alleged war crimes leading up to the end of…
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Panasonic Corporation, a major appliance company, announced it would host an online collaborative project informational meeting on September 14, 2020. Its goal is to find collaborative partners to develop and utilize some of its own technologies. Panasonic is working with…
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Udon (ooh-dohn), thick white wheat noodles, are a popular food in Western Japan, particularly in Kagawa Prefecture. There, firm udon noodles of the “Sanuki” area attract aficionados to “pilgrimages” of the famous udon shops. This relatively rural part of Japan…
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Name value and prestige is extremely important for people in Japan. A recent trademark registration application is upsetting some in higher education now. Designated National University Corporation Osaka University (“Osaka University”), one of the highest-ranked and national public universities of…
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Honda Motor Co., Ltd. announced last year (see our article from that time) that it would be testing an artificial intelligence (AI)-based system to review and cull its massive patent portfolio, in the interest of cutting costs and simpler decision…
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Japan’s Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI) issued its annual report of the state of applications for patents related to artificial intelligence (AI; patent applications filed under categories corresponding to G06N in International Patent Classification, or applications in various…
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This past winter and spring, people in Japan took the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) threat in stride with the stock of surgical masks they would have worn anyway. Then supplies ran extremely low and queues formed outside of drug stores. In…
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In 2006, Japan introduced a program for trademarks that were collective (compare with US collective marks) and regional indications (compare with European RIs), the chiiki dantai shōhyō seido (地域団体商標制度). Translated as the Regional Collective Trademark (RCT) System, this arrangement seeks…
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