More IP Cooperation between Japan, China, and Korea ~Results of 15th Trilateral Policy Dialogue Meeting between JPO, SIPO, and KIPO~

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On November 17, 2015, the Japan Patent Office (JPO), the State Intellectual Property Office of the People’s Republic of China (SIPO), and the Korean Intellectual Property Office (KIPO) held the 15th Commissioners Meeting. At this meeting, JPO, SIPO, and KIPO agreed to publish the results of a case study regarding requirements of amendments by the three offices. Such requirements are for changing the content of documents in which applicants describe the scope of their patent rights and the details of their inventions. Such information is useful for users planning to file applications to the JPO, SIPO, and KIPO to better understand the examination practices in these three offices. At this meeting, the JPO, SIPO, and KIPO also discussed possible cooperation in a wide variety of fields, including examinations in the fields of patents and designs, appeals and trials, and automation.

  1. Background

China and Korea are the second- and third-largest trading partners of Japan, respectively. Japan has established a close economic relationship with both China and Korea. In particular, the value of exports from Japan to China and Korea accounts for one fourth of the total value of its exports. In addition, in 2013, 1.35 million patent applications, which accounts for more than half of the total applications worldwide (2.57 million applications), were filed to the JPO, SIPO, and KIPO. This shows the increasing importance to enhance cooperation between the JPO, SIPO, and KIPO in order to develop a better global intellectual property system. As a result, in 2001, the JPO, SIPO, and KIPO started to have annual Commissioners Meeting to aim to enhance cooperation in a variety of fields, including IP systems and examination practices, design, automation, human resource development, and appeals and trials. On November 17, 2015, the offices held the 15th Trilateral Policy Dialogue Meeting in Guangzhou, China. In addition, a symposium was held with users from the three countries and participants proactively exchanged opinions concerning cooperation in examinations, measures to support small and medium enterprises, and other IP-related issues.

  1. Results of Meeting

At the meeting, representatives from the JPO, SIPO, and KIPO discussed possible cooperation in a wide variety of fields, including examinations in the fields of patents and designs, appeals and trials, and automation. The main details of the agreement between the JPO, SIPO, and KIPO are as follows:

  • Cooperation in field of Patent

The heads of the JPO, SIPO, and KIPO agreed to disclose the result of the case study on the Requirement of Amendment by the three offices to the general public. In this case study, the JPO, SIPO, and KIPO mainly discussed differences in the opinions concerning whether content added through amendments must be within the scope of the content as described in the documents as originally filed or not. In case when such content is not included, the amendment is often regarded as an Addition of New Matters, and such amendments are not allowed. The JPO, SIPO, and KIPO confirmed the differences among the three offices in the requirements of amendments during examination practices.

  • Cooperation in field of Designs

The JPO, SIPO, and KIPO agreed to continue exchanging opinions concerning design systems and examination standards in each country in the future. In addition, the JPO, SIPO, and KPO also agreed the discussion on issues of common interest between the three offices in the field of designs is important. Moreover, the JPO, SIPO, and KIPO all agreed the Japan-China-Korea Design Forum can contribute to the mutual understanding of design systems in all three offices. The JPO, SIPO, and KIPO all agreed the necessity to continue and develop the forum in the future.

  • Cooperation in other fields

The JPO, SIPO, KIPO agreed to launch a new Trilateral IP Cooperation Website named TRIPO (Trilateral IP Offices), which will be in Japanese, Chinese, Korean, and English, to allow users in the three countries to have easy access to information.

  1. Future Actions

The JPO will continue to cooperate on comparative studies on IP systems under the JPO-SIPO-KIPO Trilateral Framework. By disclosing information at symposiums, seminars, and on various websites, the JPO will also help improving user-friendliness in the process of acquiring patent rights. The JPO will be devoted to develop an environment of IP systems under which the IP rights of Japanese applicants will be protected and utilized appropriately throughout Japan, China, and Korea.

 

Source of Information:

Japan Patent Office (JPO)

http://www.meti.go.jp/press/2015/11/20151117002/20151117002.html

Keywords: Japan; China; Korea; Amendment; TRIPO