The Commissioner of the Japan Patent Office (JPO), Matsunaga Akira, gave the annual New Year’s greeting online. In it, he presents a pressing (if in some ways, late) call for Japan to press into more information-based innovation and how the JPO needs to and is already working to serve the needs of innovators and businesses in this era.
We introduce some of the items from Commissioner Matsunaga’s greeting.
Information Age Innovation Protection
The Japanese patent system needs to adjust to the shift of emphasis of the market from products to information–giving and protecting intellectual property rights. This includes foreseeing and preparing for issues coming out of artificial intelligence (AI) and internet of things (IoT) developments.
Patent Prosecution Highway
Japan is continuing to expand usefulness of Patent Prosecution Highway (PPH) programs between Japan and other countries. Mr. Matsunaga points out the start of a pilot program with India in 2019.
Design Act Revisions
From April 2020, revisions to Japan’s Design Act will be further implemented; specifically, according to another article, enabling longer grace periods for claiming priority for related designs and design clusters, as well as protection for images, architectural designs, and interior designs.
Government Consultants for Small-Scale Researchers and Inventors
Mr. Matsunaga says the JPO will continue and ramp up its support to universities and smaller corporations this year. In particular, he remarks that since 2019 the JPO has been sending out “IP strategy designers” as consultants to support discovery and application of inventions made but uncovered in universities. These IP strategy designers will be working in partnership with the universities’ research support members to plan intellectual property strategies in tandem with the researchers.
The JPO is working hard to help Japanese ideas coming and expanding their reach. These open new avenues for outsiders as well as Japanese to impact society through innovation.
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Taro Yaguchi
Sources
Kubota, Daisuke. “みんなのギモン？意匠法改正について [What everyone wants to know: about the revisions to the Design Act].” https://www.jpo.go.jp/news/koho/kohoshi/vol44/07_page1.html Online publication Tokkyo (December 9, 2019), Japan Patent Office. Accessed January 21, 2020.
Matsunaga, Akira. “松永長官 2020年 年頭所感 [Commissioner Matsunaga’s 2020 New Year’s Reflections].”
https://www.jpo.go.jp/introduction/message/2020newyear.html Japan Patent Office. Updated January 6, 2020. Accessed January 7 and 21, 2020.
