8

Ideal Scheme for the Development of Human Resources
Related to Intellectual Property

Efforts have been made hitherto to promote the development of human resources related to intellectual
property. In order to achieve the goal of making Japan a nation built on intellectual property, it is absolutely
necessary to understand the paradigm shift taking place in society and increase the quality and quantity of IP
experts. With visions for the near future, we should construct a plan for human resource development based on
clear concepts, formulate a comprehensive strategy to promote the plan, develop specific policies and measures,
and achieve progress in implementing them.
In this study, we aim to grasp the current status of the development of IP experts in various sectors as wellas the latest theories of human resource development and e-learning, and point out core concepts for the humanresource development plan, such as formulation of a new model for IP experts, qualitative change andquantitative expansion, as well as the spread of an IP culture. Based on this discussion, we makerecommendations for IP experts in different categories. Our recommendations include promotion ofadvancement, expansion, and generalization of people in charge of protecting intellectual property and obtaining
rights therefor, and encouragement of interaction among IP experts. We also propose a comprehensive humanresource development policy, which covers: establishing human resource development bases, considering ofrelated licenses, qualifications, and certifications, implementing measures to establish education on IP
management, and extending of IP education to local areas.

Ⅰ Introduction
With the goal to make Japan a nation built on
intellectual property (IP), we should increase thenecessary human resources to activate theintellectual creation cycle that consists ofcreation, protection, and utilization of intellectual
property, thereby realizing an environment where
the public will be able to enjoy the affluent
benefits from intellectual property, which will inturn encourage them to create new intellectual
property.
In February 2006, the Intellectual Property
Policy Headquarters released a report entitled“Comprehensive Strategy for the Development of
Human Resources Related to Intellectual
Property,” which points out the following: “Asintellectual property has become increasingly
important in recent years, operations related tointellectual property have been increasing in both
quality and quantity. Not only the departments incharge of the management of intellectual property,
but also departments that have been lessfrequently involved in IP-related operations so far,currently require human resources equipped withknowledge and skills relating to IP operations.”
Amid such strategic efforts being madenationwide for the development of humanresources related to intellectual property or IP
experts, this study committee was established forthe purpose of sufficiently grasping the current

IIP Bulletin 2006

status of and societal needs for IP experts andmaking useful recommendations to plan andformulate future measures and discuss an ideal
scheme for the development of IP experts.
We hope that this study report willencourage the implementation of comprehensive
measures to develop IP experts in the quest toachieve the goal to make Japan an IP-based nation,and can also help contribute to future discussions
on the development of IP experts in the sectors
concerned.

Ⅱ Background and Current Statusof the Development of Human
Resources Related to Intellectual
Property
1

Changes in the times
intellectual property

regarding(1) Paradigm shift and intellectual property
The concepts of “materials,” “energy,” and“information” were born in the 18th, 19th, and20th centuries respectively, and these concepts
shaped the methods of perception and thinking in
the following centuries. The 21st century can betermed the “century of information andknowledge,” and the ultimate form of information
is “intellectual property,” including “technology”
and “brands.” Under these conditions, thebusiness management model in this information-● 60 ●

and knowledge-oriented society is shifting fromone of “management based on tangible assets” tothat of “management based on intangible assets.”
In other words, the current trend of placingemphasis on intellectual property is not a mere
boom but the natural outcome of such a paradigm
shift.
(2) From productivity to innovation
The ”defective metabolism” of business may
be pointed out as a problem in the Japanese
economy and industry. Technology will help tocontinually create new businesses. However,before companies can successfully contribute tosociety with their new technologies throughcommercialization, they will face many obstacles
such as the “Valley of Death,” “Darwinian Sea,”and “chasm,” and in order to overcome theseobstacles, they need to strengthen theirbusiness/industrial
competitivenessby
proceeding with both management of technology
and management of intellectual property. To thisend, more employees are required to be capableof performing both management duties.

formulates annually, stresses the importance ofthe development of human resources related tointellectual property and presents specificmeasures for this purpose. Through such efforts,
progress has been made in developing andincreasing the number of IP experts in various
areas such as education, business, the legal
profession (especially patent attorneys), andgovernment.
In the “Intellectual Property Strategic
Program 2005,” it is stated that the GOJ will aim
to double the number of IP experts from about
60,000 to 120,000 during the ten-year period from
FY2005, fostering people who specialize in
multiple fields, have international perspectives,and have a good business sense, and make active
use of such people.
With the objective to formulate a concrete
plan for developing human resources related tointellectual property in the next ten years, weshould formulate a new picture for the role of IP
experts beyond the conventional framework ofhuman resource development.
3(3) Innovation as a source of industrial
competitivenessBased on the above-mentioned awareness,
we should change the core concept ofbusiness/industrial
competitivenessfrom“productivity” to “innovation.” That is to say, we
should shift the emphasis from increasing
efficiency in existing values to creating newvalues. In order to stimulate such innovation, IP
experts must be well versed in not only “scienceand technology” and “IP-related legal affairs” butalso “management and commercial affairs.” It isalso important to make people specializing inbusiness management well-versed in “IP-related
legal affairs” and “science and technology,” while
making scientists and researchers well-versed in“IP-related legal affairs” and “management andcommercial affairs.”
2

Current status of policy and training forthe development of human resources
related to intellectual property

The Basic Law on Intellectual Property
provides that the State shall take the necessary
measures to secure and develop experts that havetechnical knowledge on intellectual property andimprove their quality.
The Intellectual Property Strategic Program,which the Intellectual Property Policy Headquarters

Current status and problems of humanresource development in each sector(1) Business sector(i) Small-and medium-sized enterprises, andventure companies(a) Small-and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs)
Development of personnel specializing in IP
operations is implemented through on-the-job
training. While working with external advisers
and retired employees with plenty of experiencein handling intellectual property, IP personnel are
required to acquire the necessary knowledge andskills for not only carrying out technology
development and patent filing procedures but also
makingjudgments
regardingbusinessmanagement. R&D personnel are also required todeepen their awareness of the importance ofintellectual property and increase their skills to
prepare patent specifications through on-the-job
training. SMEs often use external support fortraining. Since on-the-job training is a methodthat depends on people, it poses challenges interms of continuity.
(b) Venture companies
IP personnel are required to be capable ofinvestigating existing products that utilize
patented inventions and providing their superiors
with their draft reports on whether or not to filepatent applications with respect to the company’s
inventions, while outsourcing operations that● 61 ●IIP Bulletin 2006

require technical knowledge on patents toexternal patent attorneys. Research personnel
are required to be capable of analyzing therelationship between their patents and related
businesses and others’ patents, while grasping
the company’s business direction as the top
management do, and conceiving ideas of papers,
useful patents, and actual uses of patents basedon their research activities. Development of IP
personnel and research personnel is implemented
through on-the-job training, with externalseminars also being used as off-the-job training.
Human resource development aims to ensure thateach employee will play more than a single role.
(ii) Large companies(a) Large Company A
The company has established the Institute of
IT Education for the purpose of carrying out R&D
on IT-based educational programs and creating
educational services with the use of IT. The
institute provides practical education with athree-stage goal, which consists of thedevelopment of the ability to discover problems,
the development of the ability to solve problems,and continued education based on learning
evaluation. The ability to discover problems isneeded to determine when to consult withexperts in the course of solving particular
problems. The lack of knowledge of contracts on
the part of sales representatives sometimes
prevents legal experts from exerting theirexpertise satisfactorily. However, it is difficult totrain sales representatives to have the same levelof legal knowledge and ability to make judgments
as legal experts. For this reason, the institutetrains sales representatives to discover contractual
problems and cooperate with legal experts insolving problems. The institute adopts a hybrid
training system in which trainees study specificcases through e-learning up to a certain level, andthen participate in group training. This hybrid
system utilizes characteristics of both e-learningand group training and generates synergy effects.
(b) Large Company B
The development of IP experts targets
various requirements such as the ability to makerecommendations, communication skills, expertisein intellectual property, and expertise intechnology. Since, in addition to these common
requirements, personnel in individual classes(leaders, specialists, general staff) requiredifferent abilities and skills, human resource
development is generally implemented based on
conditions regarding the individual class. At thesame time, training is also provided on a

IIP Bulletin 2006

cross-sectional basis in order to develop top-level
experts for individual functions. For external
training, the company uses training programs
provided by the Japan Intellectual Property
Association (JIPA) and its committees of experts.
The JIPA’s training course for the development of
IP innovation leaders is useful as an educational
program particularly aimed at developing
personnel who will become leaders in IP activities.
IP personnel must share ideas with researchpersonnel for creating intellectual property. IP
personnel are required to be capable of making
recommendations to the business department,
while personnel in other departments are
required to be capable of grasping IP risk andpossessing the knowledge and sense related toutilization of intellectual property. It is also
important but the most challenging to extend IP
education to the top management.
(2) Patent attorneys(i) Japan Patent Attorneys Association
The Japan Patent Attorneys Association(JPPA) provides various training programs suchas training for new recruits through e-learning,training for JPPA members, training personnel toacquire the ability to cope with specificinfringement cases, and training on science andtechnology. One reason that patent attorneys areunwilling to venture into IP business
management is the low income derived fromservices other than those for filing patentapplications. Patent attorneys are expected to act
as IP departments of companies and give advice
on IP management, but they have no chance toacquire the necessary skills to provide suchservices. They need to study about IP-based
business strategy, IP management, businessstart-ups, and marketing. In this respect, it is also
necessary to develop human resources that canteach such subject matter to patent attorneys.
(ii) Development of human resources related
to intellectual property from the viewpointof patent attorneys
Through observation of various inventors,
we can say, “it is too late to develop the ability tocreate inventions once people reach university.”
In order to foster people who can see things intheir own way and create original ideas,
educational reforms should be carried out atearlier stages of education such as elementary,junior high, and high schools, and the current
style of learning as well as university
examinations focused on rote memory should also
be reformed. To achieve this, concrete● 62 ●

cooperative steps between the Ministry of
Education, Culture, Sports, Science andTechnology and the Ministry of Economy, Tradeand Industry are indispensable. The true role ofpatent attorneys and IP personnel at companies is
to collect, analyze, examine, and organize
information, and find and clarify truly valuable
inventions based on information that they havesuccessfullyacquired.
Recognizingtheimportance of such roles, they should interact
with JPO officials and people in various industries
so that cooperation across the IP field is
promoted. Management executives should
acquire the ability to use intellectual property as
a business resource and regard it as a businesstool.
(3) National Center for Industrial Property
Information and Training
Under the basic principle of minimizing therole of the public sector by outsourcing to theprivate sector what can be done by the private
sector, the National Center for Industrial
Property Information and Training (NCIPI)
considers that the public sector should undertakethe following roles:- Develop an environment to promote humanresource development in the private sector;- Provideknowledge
and
know
how
accumulated at the JPO;
- Publicize and raise awareness of policy
measures.
In order to perform these functions, the
NCIPI implements training programs for JPO
examiners and appeal examiners as well as
searchers, and provides JPO’s knowledge andknow-how to the public through cooperation withother organizations. With the aim to carry out thenational IP policy, the NCIPI provides training for
IP personnel at the national and local government
level. It also provides search training foruniversity personnel and technical researchers.
Effective measures to solve existing
problems in the development of IP experts may
include establishing an IP teacher bank andpromoting information and personnel exchange
between human resource development agencies,
and in this context, curricula and material on IP
education should be developed systematically.
The NCIPI intends to provide a study forum on IP
policy for people engaging in policy study, IP
operations, and study on developing countries, sothat measures to develop academic personnel athome and abroad, study IP policy, and help
developing countries will be implemented all in

one go. By establishing a joint training center, it
will be possible to provide the opportunity for
information exchange between organizations andbetween teachers and trainees as well as for theexchange of educational material.
(4) Students(i) Elementary schools and junior highschools
The substance of IP education has bearingson the core of education. IP education that forms
the foundation to the goal of making Japan an
IP-based nation must target every individual. To
this end, it is necessary to provide education on
creativity in general courses, IP education incross-curriculum courses, and systematic andphased IP education depending on grades. By
increasing teachers’ IP awareness throughsystematic IP education, it will be possible toproceed with IP education for students without
the help of IP personnel. In order to establish asystematic and phased scheme for IP education,
the term “intellectual property” should be
mentioned in curriculum guidelines, thereby
increasing teachers’ IP awareness.
For ensuring effective IP education at school,
it is necessary to include articles on intellectual
property in textbooks, with samples of teaching
instructions attached thereto.
(ii) High schools
IP education from the pre-school level to theelementary school level should be extended tojunior high schools and high schools, with the aim
to raise IP awareness among students during theperiod up to high school as well. In this context,
the term “intellectual property” should be
mentioned in curriculum guidelines for highschools. At professional high schools, IP
education is carried out systematically throughprograms designed to develop intellectual
creativity, promote manufacturing activities, raiseinterest in science, foster entrepreneurship, andprovide the opportunity to experience IP
administration. At technical high schools, it isnecessary to implement curricula that enable
students to acquire the skill of exchanging ideas
and the knowledge on industrial property that willcontribute to industry and society. Collaboration
between science and technology education,
creativity
education,
andentrepreneurial
education is required.
We should create an environment where
people have a chance to become IP specialists at
any stage of their school life, and professional
high schools, professional training colleges, and● 63 ●IIP Bulletin 2006

universities should provide practical programs forstudents in this regard. In particular, in technicalhigh schools, progress has been made in thedevelopment of curricula, textbooks, andeducational materials, and instruction manuals
have also been developed to a satisfactory level.
These achievements should be extended toordinary high schools as well as elementary andjunior high schools.
(5) Universities and research institutes(i) Tokyo University of Science, Special
Graduate School
The Special Graduate School of the Tokyo
University of Science provides practical education
to develop human resources capable ofstrategically dealing with IP issues that arebecoming more diverse. The school’s educational
concept is to educate students mainly on
intellectual property and also on legal affairs,
business management, technology, policy issues,and international issues in an integrated manner.
It also aims to develop the ability to not only
discover but also predict problems.
The school teaches how to integrate IP
issues into business strategy.
IP specialists cannot be developed without
practical study. Based on this awareness, while
placing emphasis on strategic management, theschool aims to develop human resources capableof handling intellectual property comprehensively
in related areas such as technology, legal affairs,
and business management.
The development of IP experts should bedirected to nurture experts not only specializing
in individual IP areas but also covering all relatedareas, depending on the characteristics of eachclass.
(ii) Osaka Institute of Technology, Faculty ofIntellectual Property, Graduate School ofIntellectual Property
The goal of the Faculty of Intellectual
Property of the Osaka Institute of Technology is
to develop a number of individuals equipped withknowledge on intellectual property, who willserve as IP specialists such as IP personnel atcompanies and paralegals at patent and law firms.
Granting faculty graduates a national license thatis equivalent to the paralegal license in the
United States would be an incentive. The
Graduate School of Intellectual Property, whichaims to develop high-level IP specialists such as
IP managers at companies as well as patent
attorneys, provides optimal curricula for individual
students while taking into consideration their

IIP Bulletin 2006

current
occupations
andfuturecareeradvancement. IP specialists with advanced
practical capabilities will be developed throughcompetition among diverse types of people. For
industry-academia-government collaboration in
education, a personnel exchange scheme forinviting IP practitioners as university teachers isdesired.
(6) IP-related associations(i) Institute of Intellectual Property
The Institute of Intellectual Property (IIP)
has four different types of researchers.
Transferred researchers study IP conditions inJapan and overseas while exchanging opinionswith people engaged in IP operations in various
fields. Invited researchers are foreign lawyers andprofessors engaged in comparative study of IP
conditions in Japan and overseas. Overseas
dispatched researchers are Japanese university
teachers and practitioners dispatched to study
overseas. Research fellows are researchers in thelatter term of their doctoral program who are
engaged in research activities at the IIP. In orderto develop IP experts for future generations, the
IIP holds educational courses for IP practitioners
from industrial, academic, and government
sectors as well as the legal community, with
university professors and lawyers serving asteachers. The IIP has advanced functions for thedevelopment of IP experts and also acts as a hub
for people engaged in IP-related operations. While
involving researchers and practitioners in a wider
range of areas (business management, education,and science and technology), the IIP should
expand its library function, with the aim to build
an IP library through collaboration with libraries
of related organizations.
(ii) Japan Institute of Invention and Innovation
In order to achieve the goal of making Japanan IP-based nation, it is absolutely necessary tooperate the intellectual property cycle smoothly,
and to this end, the Japan Institute of Invention
and Innovation (JIII) is developing various typesof human resources for the creation, protection,and utilization of intellectual property nationwide.
In particular, the JIII aims to foster creative
people by increasing incentives to create
inventions and promoting science and technology
through awards and exhibition projects. The JIII
dispatches instructors to Invention Clubs for
Schoolchildren to teach how to create and respect
intellectual property through hands-on experienceof research activities. The development of creative
talent is an endless task, and there is no limit to● 64 ●

its targets. IP awareness should be established byproviding IP education and creativity education
for child at early ages.
(7) Development of human resources
related to intellectual property in local
areas
In order to make management executives of
local companies aware of the importance ofintellectual property and encourage them tointegrate IP strategy into business strategy, it isnecessary, first of all, to educate policymakers inlocal government, personnel at chambers ofcommerce, and SME consultants, who support
local companies. Continuous efforts should bemade to allocate and develop such humanresources.
(8) Journalists
In light of the influence of the press on the
public, IP education for journalists such as
newspaper and magazine reporters is also
important. Nurturing journalists that are
equipped with the correct basic knowledge on
intellectual property is necessary to achieve thegoal of making Japan an IP-based nation.
4

Latest theory for human resource
development and the current status ofe-learning(1) Latest theory for human resource
development
The essence of practical education is toquestion “whether practitioners can improvetheir performance on the work front by increasing
their knowledge and skills.” In other words, theemphasis should be placed on “learning” rather
than “teaching.”
Typical approaches for human resource
development include transfer of learning,
experiential learning, and critical learning. In
relation to these approaches, there are learningmodels such as “transmission of knowledge,”“supported learning,” and “mutual learning.” It isnecessary for us to organize actual training
programs by employing these approaches andmodels from a practical perspective.
What is important in this context is to design
IP-related training programs based on a correctunderstanding of these approaches and models.
Educational debates that are only slightly above
the amateur level are not welcome. We should
endeavor to develop human resources on aprofessional level based on basic knowledge oflearning methods.
(2) E-learning
E-learning has recently become a popular
tool for the development of IP experts. However,
if it is used only as an alternative to theface-to-face training method, it cannot bring aboutsatisfactory results, or even worse, it might not
be as effective as face-to-face training. In order to
employ e-learning effectively and efficiently, it isvital to sufficiently consider, at the stage of
discussing its introduction, “who” is to receive
the e-learning and to study “what”, for “whatreason” and “how,” and then design learning
programs in order to make them more effective,
efficient, and attractive. We should not introduce
e-learning while blindly accepting the outdated
e-learning model of “learn anywhere at any time,”
simply in order to compensate for theunavailability of group training. E-learning must
be utilized based on the understanding of its
essential function.

Ⅲ

Discussion and Direction of
the Development of Human
Resources Related to Intellectual
Property

1

Discussion and direction of thedevelopment of human resources
related to intellectual property

Introducing external support would be aneffective means for local SMEs and venturecompanies to develop IP experts. To make thispossible, it is necessary to foster patent attorneys
capable of providing business support as well as
SME consultants capable of integrating IP
strategy into business strategy. Since it is difficultfor human resource development companies andorganizations in the private sector to undertake
this initiative, government support from a policy
perspective is desired.
Large companies implement human resource
development programs to increase expertise of
personnel in IP departments. However, mostsuch programs focus on simply the transmissionof knowledge, and practical education aimed atdeveloping the ability to make judgments has not
yet been fully developed. Education in business
management will be indispensable in the futureso that IP personnel will not concentrate only on
their own fields but contribute to company
management. It is an urgent task to develop thenecessary curricula and implement them

● 65 ●IIP Bulletin 2006

proactively.
Meanwhile, for personnel other than those at
IP departments, basic education should be given
to provide awareness of the importance ofintellectual property in business management andthe risk arising from disrespect for intellectual
property.
Patent attorneys are required to not only
have “advanced” expertise on the core services
for protecting intellectual property and obtaining
rights therefor, but also to have a “broad”
expertise covering business management as well.
Using such expertise, they are expected to help
companies integrate their IP strategy into theirbusiness strategy.
Furthermore, “core IP experts,” such as JPO
examiners and appeal examiners, IP personnel atcompanies, and patent attorneys, are expected toplay a leading role or act as teachers to raise IP
awareness among the public (from young children
to students, from business persons to ordinary
citizens). In other words, measures to develop
human resources to be in charge of humanresource development should be implemented ona large scale.
With regard to the children who will leadfuture generations, it is important to encouragethese children to engage in creative activities andteach them the importance of IP protection in
ordinary lessons based on their stage ofeducational development. Efforts should also bemade to establish a system to train teachers as IP
experts and to nurture invention clubs, thereby
increasing the body of IP experts.
At universities and graduate schools, IP
education should be included in curricula not onlyof faculties and schools in the fields of scienceand technology but also of those in all fields. In
order to enhance faculties and professional
graduate schools specializing in intellectual
property, developing IP teachers is also a major
issue.
IP research institutes should strive to raise
the sophistication of IP leaders so as to further
enhance their research activities, while
encouraging personnel exchanges with foreign
researchers as well as with researchers andscholars in other fields.
2

Paradigm shiftdevelopment

in

human

resource

Along with the rapid progress in theparadigm shift to an information- and knowledgeoriented society, there is a pressing need to

IIP Bulletin 2006

develop human resources capable of promoting“innovation“ rather than “productivity” andcarrying out “management based on intangible
assets” rather than “management based ontangible assets.” A new type of talent that can
respond to such trends is desired. It is impossible
to proceed with human resource development for
the next ten years without having visions on thisissue.
A paradigm shift leads to the reform ofbusiness models. In the IP field, models forhuman resources and development thereof should
be reformed. It is necessary for us to develop a
new type of IP personnel who are equipped withknowledge of and skills in management oftechnology and management of intellectual
property, and in this context, a new frameworkandmethodology
for
human
resource
development will be needed.
3

Core concepts for the development of
human resources related to intellectual
property

The plan to double the number of IP experts
does not mean to merely increase the number
from 60,000 to 120,000. It is necessary for us toexpand and reorganize the existing human base of
60,000 experts to create a significant base of
120,000 experts in the near future. In other words,
the plan should not be implemented throughqualitative enhancement that is intended tomerely advance the existing human resource
model or quantitative expansion of the existingmodel, but rather through quantitative expansion
following the qualitative change to a new humanresource model.

Ⅳ RecommendationsfortheDevelopment of Human Resources
Related to Intellectual Property
1

Basic framework

IP experts can be divided into the following
three categories according to their relationshipwith intellectual property.
The first category is people engaged inprotecting intellectual property and obtaining therights therefor. They should improve theircapabilities by interacting with each other. It is anurgent task to develop associated humanresources (e.g. IP paralegals, IP translators, andIP searchers) in response to rapidly growing
demand.

● 66 ●

The second category is people engaged increating and utilizing intellectual property. It isnecessary to increase their awareness ofintellectual property and management thereof. In
particular, in order to enable companies tointegrate IP strategy into business strategy, theyshould improve the sophistication of IP
management throughout the company, from the
R&D department to the management department
and the sales department.
The third category is the Japanese people asa whole. “Spreading IP culture” or “developing adignifiednational
culturethat
respects
originality” is a major task. To achieve this, it isdesired that all members of the public experiencean “IP shower” at least once. An “IP shower”
consists of “DO’s” (encouraging the respect oforiginality and making creative efforts) and“DON’Ts” (control of piracy and counterfeiting).
Measures to raise awareness of this concept
should be implemented quickly.
2

Advancement,
expansion,andgeneralization of human resources incharge of protecting intellectual property
and obtaining the rights therefor

In the development of human resources incharge of protecting intellectual property andobtaining the rights therefor in the past, efforts
were put into the “advancement of expertise,”which aimed to advance technology for protecting
and obtaining rights, develop technical knowledge,
and respond to internationalization. We should ofcourse continue such efforts.
On the other hand, it is impossible tostrengthen business/industrial competitivenesswithout “expansion” in IP specialists’ fields ofexpertise. In other words, there is demand forpatent attorneys and IP personnel equipped withconsiderable knowledge of business management.
Furthermore, generalists who carry out IP
management by using these specialists will beneeded in the future.
3

Encouragement of interaction between
personnel in charge of protecting
intellectual property and obtaining therights therefore

It is also necessary to encourage interaction
and mobilization among such personnel. For
instance, JPO’s fixed-term examiners are
expected to play a part in the private sector bymaking use of their examination experience andknowledge on IP policy after they have served
their term of office. That is to say, people in the
IP field can choose from multiple employment
options, such as being patent attorneys, IP
personnel at companies, and JPO examiners, andthe IP field as a whole will be recognized as a fieldof specialists. This will make the IP field more
appealing and invite talented people to enter thefield.
In the category of IP experts, technobusiness producers, who play the same role asmusic producers in the content industry, should
also be fostered.
We face three urgent tasks for thedevelopment of IP experts.
Firstly, for the purpose of raising IP
awareness among specialists in related fields, weshould promote IP education for professional
engineers and SME consultants.
Secondly, IP management schools for
executives and for directors should be establishedpermanently. Schools for executives arenecessary to develop human resources equippedwith integrated multiple capabilities that can
implement IP management, and schools for
directors are indispensable to develop humanresources capable of integrating IP strategy into
overall business strategy.
Thirdly, it is also necessary to promote
double majors in the area of licenses and degrees,
while also considering a major-minor system toencourage people to study IP as a minor subject.
People who are currently working as specialists
do not have sufficient time to study. If they areencouraged to study IP as a second major or evenas a minor, this would make great contribution toincreasing the number of IP experts.
At the same time, we should promote theinclusion of IP in curricula for elementary,
secondary and higher education, with the aim todevelop human resources for future generations
and spread IP culture among the public. To thisend, it is important to clearly mention the term
“intellectual property” in curriculum guidelines,
and to provide IP education for teachers andinstructors employed at all levels of education.
4

Proposals on comprehensive humanresource development

Based on the discussion mentioned above,
we have the following proposals to make.
(1) Establishafoundation
development of IP experts● 67 ●forthe

IIP Bulletin 2006

In order to increase the number of IP
experts effectively and efficiently, it is criticallyimportant to establish an integrated foundation
covering areas from the conducting of research on
human
resource
development
totheimplementation of necessary measures and thepromotion of personnel exchanges.
(2) Consider introduction of IP-related
licenses, qualifications, and certifications
In order to motivate people to acquire IP
knowledge and skills and increase incentives forlearning, it is necessary to establish IP-related
licenses, qualifications, and certifications.
(3) Implement measures to establish
education in IP management
For the purpose of expanding IP specialists’fields of expertise, it is also an urgent task toprovide the opportunity and establish a forum forexecutives and directors to learn IP management.

Secondly, it is necessary to promoteenhancement and mobilization of IP experts by
establishing IP-related licenses, qualifications,and certifications and implementing other related
measures. It is also necessary to make IP
specialist occupations more appealing to young
people.
Thirdly, spreading IP culture among the
public and promoting IP education for all people
from children to adults will be effective inincreasing Japan’s underlying strength androbustness.
The initiative to develop IP experts in
response to the paradigm shift has only justbegun. We should promote this trend quickly andsteadily, and effectively and efficiently. The new
types of IP experts thus developed will make agreat contribution to revitalizing Japanesebusiness and industrial competitiveness.

(4) Extend IP education to local areas
The goal to make Japan an IP-based nation
should no longer be taken on only by people living
in metropolitan areas. Measures to raiseawareness of IP and management thereof should
be extended to local areas.
(5) Implement preventive measures for theenvironmental risk to IP creation andmanagement
The failure to control the environment
surrounding IP creation and management will
invite problems such as information leakage,difficulty in identifying the inventor, and forgery.
To avoid such a situation, we need to immediately
study methods to control the environmental risk
to IP creation and management focusing on thecontrol of laboratory notebooks, and promote theapplication of such methods.

Ⅴ Conclusion
In order to achieve the goal to make Japan an
IP-based nation, it is absolutely necessary toincrease the quality and quantity of related humanresources, while taking into consideration theparadigm shift taking place in society, and having
visions for the near future.
Firstly, regarding core personnel in the IP
field, we should not only advance their expertise
but also expand their fields of expertise, with theaim to develop human resources equipped withintegrated multiple capabilities.

IIP Bulletin 2006

● 68 ●(Senior Researcher: Mitsuhisa ANDA)