IP/C/W/697  
 
3 March 2023  
(23-1512) Page: 1/4 
Council for Trade -Related Aspects of  
Intellectual Property Rights  Original: English  
 
INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY AND INNOVATION:  
CROSS -BORDER COOPERATION AMONG IP OFFICES  
COMMUNICATION FROM AUSTRALIA; CANADA; THE EUROPEAN UNION; HONG KONG, CHINA; 
JAPAN; SINGAPORE; SWITZERLAND; THE SEPARATE CUSTOMS TERRITORY OF TAIWAN, PENGHU, 
KINMEN AND MATSU; THE UNITED KINGDOM; AND THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA  
_______________  
 
 
1  INTRODUCTI ON 
1.  The development of free trade systems and the evolution of information technology have 
increased the cross -border movement of information, people, services, goods, and monetary funds, 
and companies ' economic activities have become increasingly globalize d. From the perspective of 
industrial property1, while the total number of patent applications filed by innovators worldwide was 
around one million in the 1990s, this number has been drastically increasing in various 
regions/countries in recent years and exceeded 3.4 million in 2021.2 This increasing trend is also 
true for trademarks and designs, with a record 13.9 million trademark applications and 1.2 million 
design applications filed worldwide in 2021.3 In addition, the numbers of international 
applic ations/registrations under WIPO 's PCT (patent), Madrid (trademark) and Hague (design) 
systems, as indicators of multilateral industrial property activities, reached record levels in 2021. 
Even in the midst of the economic downturn caused by the COVID -19 pa ndemic, businesses, creators 
and innovators have remained strongly engaged in industrial property -related activities, helping the 
world recover from the pandemic in a resilient manner.4 
2.  As is evident from the above trends in patent, trademark and design a pplications worldwide, the 
globalization of economic activities has led to increased demand for industrial property protection to 
provide legal certainty to businesses, and promote and facilitate trade and investment. It should 
also be noted that the indus trial property protection supports international trade, and can lead to an 
increase in the levels of knowledge and information worldwide through the dissemination of 
intellectual information.  
3.  When seeking industrial property protection in various regions/countries, it is vital for applicants 
that there is an established environment in which they can obtain industrial property rights smoothly 
and predictably. Domestic intellectual property (IP) offices play an important role in ensuring an 
industria l property system suitable to effectively promote and protect industrial property rights, 
thereby encouraging the creation of inventions and designs, protecting business credibility in 
trademarks, and contributing to the development of each region/country 's economy. International 
 
1 For the purposes of this paper, its scope focuses on patents, trademarks, and industrial designs.  
2 WIPO, World Intellectual Property Indicators 2022 . 
3 Id. 
4 Innovative Activity Overcomes Pandemic Disruption - WIPO 's Global Intellectual Property Filing 
Services Reach Record Levels, WIPO,  https://www.wipo.int/pressroom/en/articles/2022/article_0002.html  
"IP filing activity has grown during the global pandemic, even during the 2020 drop in worldwide 
economic growth. Innovative activity and globalized operations are increasingly central t o many enterprises 
and are long -term commitments. [...]  The strong uptake of international trademarks during 2021 shows how 
companies seized opportunities for introducing new goods and services as consumer demands shifted and the 
digitalization of economi es accelerated amid the pandemic. " IP/C/W/697  
 
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  organizations such as the African Regional Intellectual Property Organization (ARIPO) and the African 
Intellectual Property Organization (OAPI) also facilitate cooperation in granting such rights.  
4.  It should be noted that industrial property systems are linked to the economic policies of each 
region/country, and under the principle of territoriality, the provided rights are only effective in that 
region/country. However, this does not mean that IP offices should only focus on the activities in 
their own jurisdictions. IP offices may also seek to cooperate toward enhancing legal certainty and 
predictability, and in turn support cross -border trade and investment, while respecting the 
sovereignty and flexibility that Members re tain under the TRIPS Agreement. Therefore, by 
encouraging IP offices to improve their industrial property systems, and by fostering an environment 
that promotes certainty and predictability in the application process, the trade and investment 
environment i n each region/country can be improved. This contributes not only to industrial property 
protection for right holders engaged in business activities, but also to regional economic 
development through increased direct investment. Cooperation among IP offices  on a daily basis 
helps to create a cohesive, robust and coordinated global industrial property and business 
environment that improves the economic development of all countries.  
2  COOPERATION IN TERMS OF INDUSTRIAL PROPERTY SYSTEM AND ITS OPERATION  
5.  The indus trial property system is based on the principle of territoriality, which means the rights 
are independent from those protected by the laws of other regions or countries. Therefore, in 
accordance with the principle of territoriality, if applicants wish to o btain rights not only in their own 
region/country but also in other regions/countries, they are required to file applications to obtain 
rights with the IP offices of those regions/countries in accordance with their laws. As mentioned 
above, the industrial property system is linked to the economic policy of each region/country, and 
the legal systems and standards of judgment may differ as a reflection of such policies. From the 
viewpoint of applicants intending to develop their business globally, it would th erefore be ideal if, 
for example, they are able to obtain the same scope of rights for the same invention in multiple 
regions/countries based on the same standards.  
6.  The harmonization of IP -office systems has been discussed in international organizations su ch as 
the W orld Trade Organization (WTO)  and the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) , and 
cooperation among IP offices has also been developed to harmonize IP -office systems and 
procedures. Such harmonization may promote certainty and predictab ility, incentivize creation and 
innovation, and support trade and investment, including by reducing transaction costs such as for 
MSMEs. In addition, cooperative efforts to clarify and make transparent the differences among 
jurisdictions can support applic ants, and thus help promote trade and investment.  
7.  In addition, in some cases, such as those occurring in the field of advanced technologies (e.g., 
Artificial Intelligence (AI)  and the metaverse), it may not be clear how the existing industrial property 
system should be applied. In such cases, it can be very meaningful for IP offices of various 
regions/countries to discuss at the global level what form industrial property protection may take 
and how it can be implemented in this field , and to exchange nation al experiences and best practices 
on these emerging issues.  
3  SUPPORT FOR A SMOOTH ENVIRONMENT FOR OBTAINING INDUSTRIAL PROPERTY 
RIGHTS  
8.  Since applicants may attempt to undertake procedures to obtain rights at the IP office of each 
region/country there may, i n some cases, be a procedural duplication, such as the requirement to 
submit similar documents to multiple IP offices. In such cases, if this duplication can be eliminated, 
it will minimize the applicant 's transaction costs and facilitate the application p rocess. The 
international application systems and Digital Access Service (DAS) operated by WIPO are examples 
of such cooperative efforts. The DAS enables applicants to eliminate the need to submit certain 
documents in a physical format to multiple IP offic es through electronic requests, which greatly 
reduces the transaction costs associated with application procedures.  
9.  Cooperation among IP offices, and particularly the sharing of search and examination products, 
can also help support the examination proces s. From the viewpoint of reducing the workload of each 
IP office and/or to improve its examination capacity, cooperation is also being implemented in many 
fields to create a mechanism to share search - and examination -related information among IP offices IP/C/W/697  
 
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  to reduce the time required for the examination process, and enhance the quality of search and 
examination results, supporting an efficient, balanced industrial property system.5 
10.  In order to create such an environment to bring about a reduction in workload for applicants, it 
is desired to establish a global IT infrastructure to share information among IP offices as a base. 
Promoting the development of such an infrastructure is another effective form of cooperation that 
IP offices can work on together.  
4  SUPPOR T FOR DEVELOPMENT OF INDUSTRIAL PROPERTY SYSTEM AND CAPACITY FOR 
HUMAN RESOURCE DEVELOPMENT  
11.  In order for IP offices to ensure that only high -quality rights are granted, it is necessary for 
offices to conduct examinations according to their national laws an d to ensure that examiners have 
sufficient practical skills and the ability to make consistent decisions that are compliant with national 
laws. If there is a lack of uniformity in decisions by examiners, in accordance with national law, and 
insufficient tr ansparency in the processing of applications for industrial property rights, this can 
make the IP system less predictable and/or affect the quality of the resulting rights. Therefore, 
human resource support for IP offices that are seeking to improve the qu ality of industrial property 
rights granted in their jurisdiction can be an important factor in supporting trade and investment, 
as well as patent quality. Many IP offices, in addition to WIPO, provide training and various forms of 
support to other IP offi ces, and thereby IP offices around the world are growing together day by 
day. In addition to human resource support, support for infrastructure, including the establishment 
of IT systems necessary for examination, would contribute to strengthening examinat ion capacity.  
12.  Human resource development does not solely contribute to the enhancement of examination 
capacity. IP offices also play an important role in promoting and raising awareness of industrial 
property systems in each region/country. For example, ma ny IP offices are providing seminars and 
consultations to SMEs, universities and women that do not have sufficient knowledge of industrial 
property. The growth of IP offices as hubs will foster a large number of people becoming involved in 
industrial prope rty fields, thereby creating an environment in which industrial property systems can 
be properly utilized.  
13.  With further regard to harmonization, IP offices can also support other IP offices in their 
accession to international treaties and their implementa tion. For example, through procedural 
treaties such as WIPO 's PCT, Madrid, and Hague systems, it has become easier for applicants to file 
global applications in each member country and applicable region. If the IP offices are supported in 
improving how the y operate their industrial property systems so that they can comply with these 
international treaties, leading to the increase of countries acceding to the treaties, it will therefore 
be easier for applicants to develop their global industrial property act ivities.  
5  NON-EXHAUSTIVE LIST OF GUIDING QUESTIONS  
14.  The sharing of cooperative efforts among IP offices in each region and country will serve as a 
reference for each member to consider future policies and efforts in developing a more globalized 
industrial pr operty system. In this regard, members are welcome to introduce and discuss 
cooperative efforts among IP offices from the following perspectives:  
a. What types of cooperation do IP offices in your region/country engage in?  
b. What are the benefits of cooperation between IP offices that you can share?  
c. What forms of cooperation among IP offices would directly benefit users of the industrial 
property system and would be most effective (not limited to the cooperation currently 
being undertaken)?  
d. Have there  been any attempts at cooperation among IP offices that have not been 
successful or could be improved on? If so, why?  
 
5 International Worksharing and Collaborative Activities for Search and Examination of Patent 
Applications, WIPO, https://www.wipo.int/patents/en/topics/ worksharing/  IP/C/W/697  
 
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  e. Are there any areas for improvement in the current cooperation efforts among IP offices, 
or are there any cooperative efforts that you int end to introduce in the future?  
 
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