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July 2021
Contents
News about Sonoda & Kobayashi
1. Internal news

JPO News
1. JPO publishes its Annual Report 2021
2. JPO held an online symposium on WIPO Green’s activities
3. JPO further revises the usage of hanko-stamps in official procedures

Latest IP News in Japan
1. Analyzing Japanese patents that contribute to SDGs
2. Yahoo Japan buys trademark rights for all of Yahoo brand
3. Mitsubishi licensing bio polyester patent to Kuraray
4. Japan expert committee considering whether service providers should pay product licensing fees

IP Law Updates in Japan: Insights from Sonoda & Kobayashi
1. Recent trends on plastic recycling technologies

- News about Sonoda & Kobayashi 1. Sonoda & Kobayashi ranked among world’s leading patent professionals 2021 by IAM
Sonoda & Kobayashi IP Law are happy to announce that we have been ranked among the top firms in Asia for the prosecution andenforcement of IP rights and recommended by IAM Patent 1000 for offering a unique combination of professional expertise andcosmopolitan awareness.
Dr. Yoshitaka Sonoda, Managing Partner and founder, is also ranked among the top Patent Prosecutors and recommended by IAM
Patent 1000.
Further information on the firm and Dr. Sonoda can be found here, and here.

JPO News
1. JPO publishes its Annual Report 2021
On the 14th of July, the JPO published its Annual Report 2021. This report is exclusively available in Japanese and is distinct fromthe Status Report which was published in April of this year.
The Annual Report contains three parts preceded by a long opening feature.
Regarding this opening feature, it covers the 3 types of technologies that are expected to become more and more widespread as
people’s lifestyle changes. These are 1) Family robots that provide emotional healing 2) AI learning systems for education in whichpeople and AI collaborate 3) Unmanned delivery robots, that help solving labour shortages in logistics.

In the first part, the Annual Report provides some information on patent and other IP trends, similar to that which can be found in
the Status Report. However, it adds several statistics that were not yet available at the time of publication of the Status Report,such as the grant rate (74.4% in 2020, compared to 74.9% in 2019). Another section focuses on matters such as IP policies withincompanies, activities of SMES or universities with regards to IP, and more.

In the second part, the report covers the initiatives at the JPO itself. It highlights new initiatives regarding patents, designs,
trademarks, and litigation as well as matters such as its information systems or user support.

The third and final part covers international developments regarding intellectual property, and the JPO’s initiatives on the global
scene.

More information can be found here (in Japanese)
2. JPO held an online symposium on WIPO Green’s activities
On the 18th of June, the JPO organized and participated in an online symposium to highlight WIPO Green’s initiatives for theadvancement of sustainable technologies worldwide.
WIPO Green is an online platform run by the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) to encourage the usage and licensingof green technologies. Its online platform allows users to match green-tech seekers with green-tech providers
During the webinar the JPO mentioned that Japan has the greatest number of WIPO Green users and partners. It believes thatappropriate protection of IP rights can accelerate innovations and solve social issues, rather than being an obstacle. Therefore,
increasing effective use of the WIPO GREEN platform is important. The JPO aims to work together with industry to encourage theuse of green technologies owned by Japanese companies.

More information can be found here.
3. JPO further revises the usage of hanko-stamps in official procedures
On the 11th of June, a news release by the JPO announced that the usage of the hanko-stamp, a stamp that is widely used in Japan
instead of a signature, will be eliminated from several more official procedures.

The current Covid-19 crisis and the increase of employees working from home led to an issue in which workers would still need tocome to the office to stamp physical documents. In response, the Japanese cabinet created a plan to further digitize society andreduce the usage of hanko-stamps. The JPO has been reviewing its procedures for which citizens and businesses were required touse their stamps in the past.

As a result of this review, the JPO has judged that a hanko-stamp can be eliminated in about 764 of its 797 procedures. While manyof these changes were already carried out at the end of 2020, several new adjustments were made in June of 2021.
In general, these involve stopping the use of hanko-stamps for certain procedures that concern the registration of the transfer ofpatent rights.
In practice, for international companies filing in Japan, this would also sometimes eliminate the need for a signature on physicaldocuments. This then eases the burden on law firms and their clients in sending these documents back and forth by post.

More information can be found here (in Japanese)- Latest IP News in Japan 1. Analyzing Japanese patents that contribute to SDGs
Nikkei, June 8th, 2021
Nikkei reported on the 8th of June about a methodology for different patents that contribute to the Sustainable Development Goals(SDGs). Written by Yoshiyuki Osabe, the Director at the AI Research Center of the Japan Patent Information Organization (JAPIO),

the article looks at patent filings in Japan through the lens of the SDGs.

He describes that, in recent years, the number of patent applications in Japan has been declining strongly. According to the WorldIntellectual Property Organization (WIPO), the number of applications to the JPO has decreased as much as 30% in 19 years: from
440,000 in 2001 to 308,000 in 2019. Yet at the same time, according to JAPIO’s analysis, the number of Japanese characters in apatent specification (the part which describes the detailed content of an invention) is on an upward trend. In 2001, the average
number of characters per patent was about 7,600, whereas in 2019 it had increased by 2.1 times to about 16,000 characters.

By further analyzing the collective knowledge contained in patent specifications, Mr. Osabe found that it is possible to clarify thestatus of patent applications in the field of advanced technologies, and to elucidate the latest R&D trends in companies anduniversities.
With regards to the SDGs, JAPIO has employed a method based on Google’s AI, where they create a model that can estimate towhich of the 17 SDG goals the technology described in the patent specification belongs.

On JAPIO’s website, rankings and reports are published regarding the contribution of patents to the SDGs, according to their AI’s
estimation.

For 2020, they found that an estimated 55% of Japanese patents contributed to a sustainable development goal, and about 62% of
US total applications did. The results per development goal are as follows:

Figure 1: AI estimated results of contribution of total published applications to several SDGs in 2020
Source: JAPIO’s Visualisation of the SDGs-Tech report, found here.

According to the article in the Nikkei, data on the SDGs can be used as a decision indicator when promoting ESG (Environmental,
Social and Corporate Governance) investments, and will also motivate companies and universities to promote research anddevelopment related to the SDGS.

Click here for the details of the article (in Japanese)
Click here for the data by JAPIO
2. Yahoo Japan buys trademark rights for all of Yahoo brand
The Mainichi, 6 July 2021
On the 6th of July, the Mainichi reported on a deal regarding the acquisition of trademark rights by Yahoo Japan Corp. from a
subsidiary of Verizon Media in the United States. According to this deal, Yahoo Japan will purchase the trademark rights for the useof the Yahoo brand in Japan for 178.5 billion yen, or about 1.6 billion US dollars.
Thanks to this deal, Yahoo Japan, which is an internet and e-commerce giant in the country, does not have to pay royalties anymore
for the brand and licensed technologies. Yahoo Japan’s owner Z Holdings Corp. will also have more flexibility in businessdevelopment and in general brand usage.
As Verizon Media is being acquired by Apollo Global Management Inc. it is expected that a new license agreement will be in placein the second half of 2021, when the acquisition will be complete.
The Japanese Z Holdings Corporation is a subsidiary of the SoftBank Group, and merged with Line Corp. in March of 2021. They
want to expand their global online services to better compete against tech giants from China and the United States.

Click here for more details
3. Mitsubishi licensing bio polyester patent to Kuraray
Fibre2Fashion, 6 July 2021
Market portal Fibre2Fashion reported on the 6th of July about a licensing deal between the Japanese Mitsubishi Chemical
Corporation and Kuraray, a manufacturer of chemicals and fibres, also from Japan. Under the licensing deal fall several productsthat use renewable biomass resources, such as polyethylene terephthalate (PET).
In detail, the licensed patent is a biomass-based, high-quality polyester and is a basic patent needed for operations such as
manufacturing and selling of this material. The patent has been registered in Japan, the US, the EU and China.
Mitsubishi Chemical Corporation owns many other patents for products based on biomass, and it plans to expand its own businessfor these products, while also promoting collaboration and licensing with others so as to increase adaptation of materials with alower environmental load.

Click here for more details
4. Japan expert committee considering whether service Providers should pay product licensing fees
Nikkan Kogyo Shimbun, July 9th, 2021

On the 9th of July, the Nikkan Kogyo Shimbun reported that the Japan Patent Office (JPO) is considering designing a system for thepayment of licensing fees. In particular, it would require businesses that provide services using a final product, such as a car or
smartphone, to also pay licensing fees for the patents used in said automobiles, smartphones, and other products. There havebeen complaints about the current system in which the licensing fees are borne solely by the manufacturer, despite the fact that
service providers are profiting from the same patent. Based on the results from an expert panel, the JPO will consider whether thepatent law should be revised. As the next generation of businesses, such as in-vehicle communication services, are developing,these issues are becoming more and more important.

In total, three meetings of experts will be held by March 2022. Their findings will be compiled in a report, together with interviews
with both domestic and foreign companies, patent attorney offices, and universities. Depending on the discussion by the panel,
there is a possibility that delivery apps for food, drinks and other products and services would be covered by a future system.

Further, the expert panel will also discuss the development of a legal system which would ensure that patent holders are paid
legitimate license fees suitable for market value. Should such a system be realised, it is expected to create a virtuous cycle for thecompanies and universities to which the inventors belong, as they would be able to use the licensing income from patents to fundthe next wave of research and development.

Click here for the detail (in Japanese)- IP Law Updates in Japan : Insights from Sonoda & Kobayashi 1. Recent trends on plastic recycling technologies
As more and more attention is drawn to the problem of marine plastic waste, and as import restrictions on waste are being put inplace by many Asian countries, it is relevant to look at the technologies for building a resource recycling system. Following a
study[1] published by the JPO in February this year, this article will provide a brief look into the patent landscape from plastic
recycling technologies in Japan and around the world.

Outline of the study
The study by the JPO drew on information from databases on patents filed between 2005 and 2018. Using keywords and specificsearch codes, data was gathered on patent filings in Japan, China, South Korea, the United States, and European countries.
The JPO identified 4 specific technological areas within the field of plastic recycling technologies.
These are:1) Biodegradable plastics and biomass plastics
2) Paper materials and natural materials substituting for plastic
3) Technologies for recycling waste plastic
4) New plastic obtained from recycled plastic

Based on these areas, an analysis was conducted to uncover trends in patent filing across the key jurisdictions and the specified
time period.

On applications filed between 2005 and 2018

Looking at the total applications for all 4 technological areas in this period, we see that over some 14 years, the total number ofapplications has tripled.

Figure 1 below reveals a peak in yearly applications in 2017, and a slight decrease in 2018. However, the contrast with the early
2000s is stark.
[1] Title of report (in Japanese): 令和２年度 特許出願技術動向検査 結果概要 プラスチック資源循環 令和３年２月 (Translation by Sonoda &Kobayashi: Financial year 2020, Examination of technological trends in patent applications, Outline of the results, Plastic resource recycling, February 2021).
Retrieved from https://www.jpo.go.jp/resources/report/gidou-houkoku/tokkyo/document/index/2020_04.pdf

Figure 1: Number of applications (families) filed per country per year for all 4 types of plastic recycling technologies
Source: February 2021 JPO Report

However, we also see an important trend in terms of the countries where applicant companies and organisations are from. While
Japan used to be the leader in global patent filing in these areas throughout the early 2000s, this trend started to reverse in 2011. It
has in fact transformed into a landscape where Chinese applicants hold an overwhelming majority of patent families in the field ofplastic recycling. In 2018, the contributions of the United States, European countries, or even South Korea are difficult to see on thisrelative scale.

If we do not look at the annual filing, but at the total patents filed since 2005, we learn that Japan is responsible for about 25% of
total filings. This is good for a second place after China’s 48%.
South Korea, the U.S. and Europe each make up about 8% of total filings for these technologies.

Summing up the data over this 14-year period, we see a long-established trend wherein Japanese companies and organisations
have become a global number 2 in filings applications for these technologies, rather far behind China. It is however likely thatJapanese applicants still hold a relatively sizeable part of the patents, as many have been granted before Chinese companies
become dominant in filing.

On applications filed in specific jurisdictions

The JPO report also shows the number of applications filed in each individual jurisdiction.
In this regard it is relevant to consider table 1, that has been derived from data in the report:

Table 1: Share of applications per nationality per jurisdiction ((accumulated 2005-2018)
Source: Data extracted and modified from February 2021 JPO Report

From this data, we see that Japanese applicants make up nearly 80% of all applicants for these plastic recycling technologies inJapan. A similar situation is the case for Chinese applicants in China. However, Japanese applicants make up between about 15%
and 20% of applicants in the U.S., Europe and South Korea, and well over 7% in China. On the contrary, Chinese applicants hardly
filed in jurisdictions outside of China, as evidenced by the low share of Chinese applications in other countries.

When it comes to the most international jurisdiction, the United states leads the way with a large share of applications from Europe(20.4%) and Japan (20.9%). It is followed by Europe, and then by South Korea, which receives a relatively large number ofapplications from Japan.

On applications filed per technological area

Naturally the data can be segmented on the basis of the 4 technological areas to provide further insights into the relevant trends.
Data from the report was used to construct table 2 and summarize the developments effectively.

Table 2: Number of applications between 2005-2018 per (sub)field, and total growth
Source: Data extracted and modified from February 2021 JPO Report

Over the years, the area of biodegradable plastics and biomass plastics has clearly been the focal point for most innovation. About

64.10% of all patent applications related to plastic recycling worldwide were found here between 2005 and 2018. At the same time,
we can also see that this technological area has been popular since the early 2000s, as the amount of yearly applications in 2018
was 158% of that in 2005.

Much higher growth was achieved in the field of materials that are substituting for plastic, particularly for non-paper substitutes
made of other natural materials. While only 6.2% of the total, annual applications in 2018 are 1200% higher than in 2005.

Refraining from individually addressing each category, it is worth examining the question of whether the surge in Chinese filing as
seen in figure 1 is observed for each technological area, or whether another jurisdiction is still outpacing Chinese companies andorganisations for certain types of technologies.
A detailed look reveals that for nearly all of these areas and sub-areas above, Chinese applicant filing has strongly increased over
the years in a manner very similar to figure 1.
The main exception is patent filings for biomass plastics, i.e. polymer materials made with raw materials such as starch, sugar or
cellulose.
In this sub-area we see that Chinese companies do indeed file the most applications on an annual basis, but Japanese companies
maintain a much larger relative share than in other areas.

On industries most active in plastic recycling technologies

The JPO report also helps us find out what industries are driving patent filing for plastic recycling technologies.
Commonly around the world, most applications come from companies active in the automobile sector, those manufacturing
packaging films, and building materials.

In Japan specifically, applicants from the building material sector are somewhat less active, but companies making optical films,
food containers and display materials are instead responsible for the bulk of Japanese filing activity.
For China, companies manufacturing agricultural plastics were uniquely important, and in the U.S. many patents were filed byenterprises making biocompatible materials.

Since 2005, companies making packaging films and building materials have been filing more and more until 2018. From smallerindustries, significant growth could still be observed for companies making garbage bags, reusable polymers, 3D printing materials,
and agricultural films.

Summary of the main trends

While the JPO’s study allows for much further in-depth analysis of the sector, the present article is sufficient to identify the main
trends since 2005 as regards plastic recycling technologies.

Firstly, there has been a clear growth in the number of patent applications filed in this area over the past decade and a half, showing
perhaps the global importance of finding ways to reduce plastic waste.

Secondly, we know that the first trend has been mainly the result of a rise in patent filing by Chinese companies and organisations.
Japan remains an important jurisdiction in this regard, but both its absolute and relative positions have declined. Interestingly andimportantly, most of Chinese filing activity has been solely in China, as relatively few Chinese companies file in other jurisdictions.

Thirdly, most technological development is concentrated around biodegradable plastics. However, this is not the area that has seen
the most growth since 2005. This spot goes to non-paper plastic substitutes.

Lastly, companies active in the automobile sector, and those manufacturing packaging films, or building materials are the main
forces in driving patent applications worldwide.
Global differences exist, and particular in Japan other industries are also important.

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