As countries struggle over intellectual property in this world rocked by novel coronavirus COVID-19, Intellectual property institutions need to forge ahead. The Japan Patent Office (JPO) has been conducting committee meetings aiming to improve its intellectual property environment, and issued a new summary of directions and goals for the future.
The JPO named six areas for improvement related directly to or in tandem with reforms to help innovators and businesses get past and over the COVID-19 difficulties, namely:
1. More thoroughly answer the demand for remote and no-contact procedures
2. Lessen burdens on users of JPO services
3. Strengthen protection of IP rights
4. Improve examination procedures to more quickly award powerful rights
5. Overhaul litigation procedures to make for more appropriate decisions in patent infringement and other litigation matters
6. Raise transparency of the special accounts for patents [1, p. 4]
One thing the summary noted under (3), which may or may not come about, was a major revision to the IP filing reinstatement procedures. A committee report in December 2020 recommended that the JPO consider changing its standards for reinstatement of a filing that is filed late from its very strict “due care” standards to even the looser “unintentional” standard.[1, p. 7; 2]
Improvements for remote and digital usefulness are slowly coming about (see more articles on removal of requirements for physical seals and teleconferencing under COVID-19), but the Japanese intellectual property system will need to keep improving as it serves a diverse and increasingly digital clientele.
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Taro Yaguchi
Sources
[1] Japan Patent Office. “ウィズコロナ/ポストコロナにおける産業財産権行政の在り方 これまでの取組 [Developments in the workings of industrial property rights administration in a with corona/post-corona world].”
February 2021. Accessed February 4, 2021. Found on top page for meeting regarding “Post/With Corona changes to IP policies, updated on February 3, 2021, here.
[2] Japan Patent Office. ” 【資料2】権利回復制度の見直し [Handout 2 from December 8, 2020 reconsidering reinstatement procedures in Japan]. Accessed February 4, 2021. Found on top page for December 8, 2020 meeting.
