International Journal of Intellectual Property Law, Economy and Management 1 (2005) 1–1

Greeting from Honorary Chairman
The Intellectual Property Association of Japan is going to publish its monthly journal both in Englishand Japanese.
Some may think that, in today’s Internet environment where information can be obtained with one
click of a button, the traditional journals are already obsolete. However, from the standpoint of academia, it is still considered quite important to announce research results through the customary journal
system, which reviews them through academic disciplines.
Being able to disseminate information of great value is, in the first place, one attraction a country
may profit from greatly. It is well known that the United States has great influence over the academic
world because of its successfully established system to gather and publish academic papers worldwide.
Japan also publishes its research findings, but due to the problem of its distribution system and language disadvantages, the degree of appeal for academic research is proportionately inadequate.
Publishing an international journal is always vital to a country wishing to display its academic achievements to the world.
As we head towards a knowledge-based society, intellectual property will become more and more
important in establishing superior competitiveness. Where R&D results are patented, utilized, andtransferred to bring about economic impact, many people are involved: engineers and researchers ofuniversities and firms in the fields of Science & Engineering and Medicine; businessmen and lawyers
engaging in patenting and licensing; experts in economy and management; and government policymakers. This is why intellectual property issues are handled as interdisciplinary matters; so that their social
background, comprehensive studies, and industry-academia collaborations can all be taken intoaccount. Furthermore, at the Intellectual Property Association of Japan, we try to focus on making proposals to society. Although in the usual analysis-type research the non-related factors are omitted tomake room for scientific demonstrations, in our proposaltype approach we need to appropriately combine as many academic disciplines as possible.
When conducting collaborations in interdisciplinary research areas, we need to think about the problems that lie between various disciplines and those that arise between research and business activities.
In other words, if you want to discuss intellectual property issues that normally cover multiple academic disciplines or involve both research and business areas, you must adopt an interdisciplinary approach.
Furthermore, the results of intellectual property studies must be used effectively in society. So in taking
an interdisciplinary approach for the purpose of conducting appropriate research and proposing new
policies you must make improvements on these research results by receiving feedback from the playersof the real world, e.g., patent attorneys, lawyers, government administrators, politicians, and company
executives. Although the approaches used to solve problems are different for academic research andbusinesses, to make improvements in research, it is important to undergo discussions while maintaining
these different viewpoints.
I strongly hope that researchers of various academic disciplines will make contributions to our unique
journal on intellectual property matters by submitting the results of their objective surveys or research
results that reflect their special interests.

Honorary Chairman of IPAJ

Hiroyuki Yoshikawa

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