International Journal of Intellectual Property Law, Economy and Management 1 (2005) 5–12

Intellectual Property Strategy in Japan
Hisamitsu AraiIntellectual Property Strategy Headquarters, Cabinet Secretariat

1. Introduction
To this day, Japan has eagerly been taking in advanced
technologies of the United States and Europe, to which
it has integrated12 its12 unique creativeness and industrious labor force to successfully establish the world’s
finest manufacturing system for tangible goods. “Japan
as Number One” is what it was called in the 1980s,
when it enjoyed worldwide acclaim.
However, after 1990, the so-called bubble economy
collapsed and Japan fell into a prolonged recession
period, now referred to as the “lost decade,” in which
the real GDP growth was only 0.1% in 2002, and theunemployment rate was, and still is, well over 5%.
Fortunately, since the real DGP growth seems to be
2.0% in 2003 (Cabinet decision in Jun. 19th, 2004)
and quantity of export is increasing, it appears thatbusiness condition in Japan is in the recovery process.
The employment capacity, however, is still in severe
condition, and Japan cannot necessarily overcome theserious deflation.
In the 1980s, the United States also suffered from along-term stagnation similar to that of the current
Japanese situation, but the US government implemented its pro-patent policies and inaugurated the Court ofAppeals for the Federal Circuit (CAFC) and promoted
industry-academia collaborations that led the country
to its current economic boom. Japan also needs to follow this example and change its “labor-integrated”
industrial structure to a more “knowledge-integrated”
one.
With the serge of Asian developing countries trying
to catch up with the front running nations, international competition between each company is getting more
intense in the global market. We now live in an era
where the company, in search of a more attractive market environment, chooses the country in which to operate, and among the major countries the race to con-ISSN 1349-7723© 2005 IPAJ All rights reserved.

struct a superior intellectual property system has
begun.
It is vital for Japan to realize an intellectual property-based nation as quickly as possible by exploiting its
reservoir of intellectual properties: patents, know-how,and digital content such as movies and animations.

2. Background Information
In his political address of February 2002, Prime
Minister Junichiro Koizumi, for the first time as aJapanese Premier, declared that, “in order to enhance
the international competitiveness of its industries,
Japan needs to strategically protect and utilize theintellectual properties that are derived from its
research and creative activities.” Accordingly, theStrategic Council on Intellectual Property was founded
the next month at the Office of the Prime Minister, andby July of the same year, the Intellectual Property
Policy Outlines was drawn up to pave the way forJapan to become an intellectual property-based nation.
In the Policy Outlines, the Intellectual Property
Strategic Headquarters and the Basic Law onIntellectual Property was proposed, and immediately
after the approval of the Principles in early July, thelaw making process was set in motion and the Basic
Law passed the Diet on November 27, 2002.
After the law was enacted in March 2003, theIntellectual Property Strategy Headquarters was set up
in the Cabinet to act as an intermediary between thevarious government ministries and to play the central
role in facilitating relevant policies. With the Prime
Minister at its helm, the Policy Headquarters consistsof all cabinet ministers and ten intellectual property
policy experts from the private sector.
This IP Strategy Headquarters was put in charge ofthe planning, the annual follow-up, and the revision of
the Intellectual Property Strategic Program. The IP

5

H. Arai

Strategic Headquarters decided Intellectual Property
Strategic Programs in July 2003. Important policies
are normally subjected to vote after discussion, andsince 2003, in accordance with the By-rules of
Headquarters Procedure, three task forces-the Task
Force for Enhancing the Rights Protection
Infrastructure, the Task Force for Patent Protection in
Medical Treatments, and the Task Force for Media
Content Business-have been installed, and, as mentioned in detail later, they summarized political proposals such as “The Foundation of IP High Court” and“The Policies to Encourage Media Content Business.”
Further, in May 27th, 2004, IP Strategic
Headquarters decided the IP Strategic Programs for2004 as revision of the IP Strategic Programs mentioned above.
In the following chapters, I will describe the actions
taken by GOJ based on the IP Strategic Program
decided by the IP Strategy Headquarters in July 2003,
and the issues to be done drawn in the IP Strategic
Program for 2004 approved in May 2004.

3. The Intellectual Property Strategic
Program
The Strategic Program starts with an introduction
reviewing the current situation in Japan and a reflection on the Japanese government’s failure to react tothe change in market environment. Identifying theincreased significance of innovations and informationfor economic growth in the developed world, theProgram emphasizes Japan’s determination to concentrate its resources to promote creation of intangible
assets. The key term, “intellectual creation cycle,” previously adopted by the 1997 IP Commission for the
21st Century, was again emphasized. To activate thecycle, a strong incentive is necessary to promote creation of intellectual property in the R&D sector andthe media contents business. In the intellectual creation cycle, intellectual property must be promptly
protected to result in maximum value in goods and services in industry, which will enrich the wealth of thenation.
The Strategic Program comprises five chapters listing related measures. The five chapters are (1) creation, (2) protection, (3) exploitation, (4) media contents protection, and (5) human resources. Major measures which relate to the activation of the intellectual
creation cycle are explained below:
3.1. Promoting the Creation of Intellectual Property
Although there were recently three consecutive

6

Japanese Nobel Prize winners in the area of basic
research, it can hardly be said that Japan has produced
an equivalently epoch-making basic invention that was
successfully commercialized. During the so-calledcatch-up period there was no special need for Japaneseindustries to rely on domestic research institutions,e.g., universities and public research institutions. To
enhance their economic strength, they had only toimport notable basic inventions from the United Statesand Europe, make new applications and improvements, and then provide the market with better products than those made by the original inventors.
However, after this catch-up period ended, Japan
assumed the role of a frontrunner, which is expected totake the lead in global economic growth by implementing effective and efficient high-level R&D activities.
3.1.1. Developing university intellectual property
headquarters and TLOs
Universities, which have a lot of resources on research
activity, should play an extremely important role in IP
creation, and should arrange systems to ensure the creation, obtainment, management and exploitation
regarding IP. To facilitate the dissemination of theabove uniform management principle, the Strategic
Program assists the establishment of Intellectual
Property Headquar-ters at universities, which strategically engages in creating, acquiring, managing, andexploiting the intellectual properties under theircharge. So far, there are 43 cases that have been
approved for the University Intellectual Property
Headquarters Development Project.
On the other hand, to return intellectual properties tosociety, 37 institutions were recognized as Technology
Licensing Organizations (TLOs) under the TLO law
that was enacted in 1998 (as of June 2004). The number of patent applications filed by Japanese universities in 2003 was 1,679 (increase of 344 cases as compared with that of last year), and the gross licensing
revenue of all TLOs was ¥554million (increase of¥144million as compared with that of last year). Thismeans that “the intellectual creation cycle” began towork from the creation of IP to the exploitation of it.
In near future, since the number of patent applications by universities will be increasing drastically, universities should ensure and expand their expenses
related to Intellectual Property. In this context, theStrategic Program for 2004 says that as soon as possible in FY 2004, the GOJ will clarify and inform thatfor competitive research grants, part of indirect
expenses can be appropriated to patent-related expens-Intellectual Property Strategy in Japanes, in order to encourage active use of such system,
and will also improve the system.
3.1.2. Exploitation of Japanese bayh dole system
Based on the system of Japanese Bayh Dole System,
all ministries of Japan prepared relevant rules to apply
their entrusted researches to the universities. This rule
was applied to almost all of the entrusted researches tothe universities (approx. 90%) in FY 2003, and thismeans that IP has been stocked to the universities.
In the Strategic Program for 2004, GOJ promote themovement mentioned above and also, for the attribution of intellectual property not only at universities andpublic research institutions but also in industry, theContent Business Promotion Law described below
ensure that intellectual property rights for products thatare created in content development projects for government use (content within the scope of culture orentertainment) belong to the persons who actually carried out the projects under contract. Taking this into
consideration, in FY 2004 and beyond, the GOJ will
carry out necessary consideration to ensure that intellectual property rights also belong to persons who
actually carried out projects under contract regarding
software development projects for government use.
3.1.3. Improving the researcher’s working conditions
In April 2003, the Supreme Court ruled that, as an
explanation to Article 35 of the Patent Law, anemployee is entitled to receiving remuneration for the
deficiency in compensation if the amount calculated in
the employment regulation is less than the reasonable
price defined by the Law. On January 30, 2004, theDistrict Court went on to set the reasonable price at agreatly controversial 60 billion yen (three times the
charged amount) for the blue-color light-emitting
diode invention, which they called “an extremely rarecase of a service invention.”
At GOJ level there was a heated discussion on thefollowing agendas: providing incentive to the R&D
activities of the inventors; reducing patent management costs and company risks; and enhancing thenation’s industrial competitiveness. This resulted in thesubmission of an amendment bill for Article 35 of the
Patent Law (Provision on Service Inventions) to thecurrent Diet session. The bill was designed to strengthen the employees’ influence on deciding the amount ofcompensation, and to make courts consider not only
the firm’s related profits but also the inventor’s working conditions and the firm’s efforts in its production
and sales, when defining the reasonable pricing of acertain invention. The bill passed the Diet on May

28th 2004.
With respect to the exceptions to the lack of noveltyof invention that are designed to prevent inventions
from lacking novelty due to disclosure in presentation,
paper, or meetings, the GOJ will examine the extension of the grace period for the exceptions and promptly consider relaxing or abolishing the requirement of
inventions being made public in a written form at aworkshop held by an academic society designated by
the Commissioner of the Japan Patent Office to widely
recognize inventions made public at workshops before
filing of patent applications as subject of the exceptions to the lack of novelty of invention, while taking
into account the trend in discussions on the international harmonization of patent systems. The GOJ willdraw a conclusion by the end of FY 2004 in theStrategic Program for 2004.
3.1.4. Promotion of universities’ Start-Ups
GOJ presented “The Plan for creation of 1,000 StartUps from Universities” in 2001, and have been supporting Universities’ start-ups. Generally speaking, thefinancial situation of start-ups tend to be vulnerable sothat GOJ will allow national university corporations toacquire stocks in compensation of licensing in order topromote the transfer of technology possessed bynational university corporations.
3.2.

Strengthening the Protection of Intellectual
Property
For more incentive to create and effectively utilize
intellectual properties, we must protect the intellectual
properties appropriately, and to this extent, the relative
systems and organizations should be reinforced. In
providing this adequate protection for newly invented
intellectual properties we must take into account thesystem’s international harmony and the technology’s
ever-changing nature, and at the same time makeorgan-izational improvements to speed up the patenting process and other legal actions, including lawsuits.
3.2.1. Expediting the patent examination process
In today’s fierce competition in which firms need tomake quick business decisions, expeditious patentexaminations are essential for commercializing thepromising inventions that may invigorate the economy.
The first action period in a patent examination is
26months in Japan, and in order to accelerate theexamination process, we must reduce the number of
unexamined cases (the so-called back-logs) that currently exceed 500 thousand, and prepare ourselves forthe rapidly increasing requests for examinations that7

H. Arai

are projected to be around 300 thousand. For this purpose, during the five subsequent years after 2003, one
hundred fixed-term examiners with ten-year tenures(98 examiners for next year) will be recruited, and furthermore, to the current Diet session, a comprehensive
bill has been submitted to accelerate the patent examination process and to amend other related laws. The
Revised Law passed the Diet on May 28th 2004.
In the Strategic Program for 2004, GOJ will set thefollowing five-year interim goal and ten-year longterm goal regarding the waiting period for patentexamination in order to steadily achieve an expeditious
patent examination. Holding the waiting period forpatent examinations at less than 30 months in 2008
(interim goal) when the number of applications waiting to be examined expand to 800,000 and the waiting
period for patent examinations reaches a peak, andachieving a reduction of the waiting period to 11
month, which is the highest global standard, in 2013
(long-term goal), and final goal would be real time
examination. In order to achieve the interim and longterm goal, GOJ will promote integrated activities
based on the Revised Patent Law including ensuring
the sufficient examiners with fixed-term contract.
METI will make an annual action plan for the goal andpresent the achievement annually.
3.2.2. Upgrading the dispute settlement functions
In Japan, the Tokyo High Court has had the exclusive
jurisdiction over administrative litigation for intellectual property matters, e.g. for revocation suits against
Patent Office decisions. According to the revised Codeof Civil Procedure of 2003, the courts having jurisdiction over civil suits that are related to patents, utility
models, IC layout designs, or computer program copyrights are for the first instance the Tokyo and Osaka
District Courts and for the second instance the Tokyo
High Court. The special divisions of each court were,in fact, functioning as patent courts, and the Tokyo
High Court, because of its scale and degree of concentration of both administrative and civil litigation, wasdeemed to be the most advanced court in the world forintellectual property matters.
Taking full advantage of this concentration, theStrategic Program aims to establish an Intellectual
Property High Court, which will make the national
pro-intellectual property policy plain to parties both athome and abroad. After the Task Force for Enhancing
the Rights Protection Infrastructure held intensive discussions, a bill was submitted to the current Diet session to integrate the Tokyo High Court’s four divisions, which are in charge of intellectual property liti-

8

gation, into an Intellectual Property High Court.
Also in an intellectual property lawsuit, the plaintiff
should be allowed to impose documentary submission
obligations to the adverse or third party to verify the
infringement or the amount of damage incurred. And
to accommodate this problem, a bill will be submitted
to the current Diet session to amend the Court
Organization Law to allow closed-door court sessions
for the protection of trade secrets and to improve theprocedures for collecting evidence.
Both bills mentioned above passed the Diet on June
11th 2004, and the IP High Court will be founded in
April 2005.
3.2.3. Promoting the international protection andcooperation for intellectual property
It is also necessary to reduce the burdens that areendured by the patent applicant and the patent offices
when a patent is filed in several countries. To achieve
this goal, examiners exchange programs and projects
that enable mutual usage of prior art investigations andpatent examinations should be carried out between thetrilateral countries-Japan, United States, and the EUand also between the other advanced countries. In theStrategic Program for 2004, for early realization ofmutual recognition among the trilateral patent offices
of Japan, the United States, and Europe, which have
80% of applications filed in the world in total, in theinitial phase of establishing the global patent system,
Japan will, from FY 2004, take the initiative in theworking group of the trilateral patent offices and holddiscussions with the United States and Europe to prepare the specific schedules for harmonizing systems
and operations and establishing infrastructures that arenecessary for such mutual recognition.
3.2.4. Protection of local brand
In Japan, many local brands fostered by regional features and traditions are existing, and it is important toprotect these local brands in order to encourageregional development. GOJ will consider a desirable
system to protect local brands for agricultural, forestry
and fishery products and other products from the viewpoint of increasing competitiveness of goods and products, revitalizing the local area and protecting consumers, while giving due consideration to effects on
goods and products of which the name has been generalized or has been firmly used for another area.
3.2.5. Measures to offset counterfeits and pirated
copiesIn China and other Asian countries, there are many

Intellectual Property Strategy in Japancounterfeit goods, from motorcycles to cosmetics, andsome surveys show that up to 90 percent of the world’s
counterfeits are, in fact, produced and distributed in
Asia. The types of rights that are infringed by thesecounterfeits include trademarks, copyrights, designs,
and patents, which cover nearly every type of intellectual property.
Although it is difficult to figure out how much themarket is contaminated with counterfeits and pirated
copies or to calculate the actual damages incurred, ICC(International Chamber of Commerce) reports that five
to seven percent of the world’s total trade is made up
of such illegal products. It is also estimated by IFPI
(International Federation of the Phonographic
Industry) that one out of every three CDs sold in theworld is a pirated copy. The Chinese government
announced that the total market value of counterfeits
was in 2001 somewhere between 2.2 and 2.8 trillion
yen.
Counterfeit and piracy are no longer “a price to pay
for fame,” but are big issues that need to be overcome
if Japan wanted to become an intellectual propertybased nation. This issue has been under discussion at
the Task Force for Enhancing the Rights Protection
Infrastructure since February 2004.
(1) Sturdy Measures for Overseas Markets
Whether bilateral or multilateral, it is through various
channels that we must implore the countries, whichhave frequent occurrences of counterfeit or piracy
against our nation, to rectify the situation immediately.
In the US-Singapore Free Trade Agreement (FTA)
there is a provision that is meant to facilitate the establishment of an effective enforcement plan for intellectual properties. The Japan-Singapore FTA has a similar
provision in effect, and as for the unsettled JapanKorean FTA the inclusion of an intellectual property
provision equal to that of the US-Singapore FTA iscurrently being negotiated.
Examples of multilateral efforts are seen in theWorld Trade Organization’s usage of its Law Reviews
and the active involvement of WIPO (WorldIntellectual Property Organization) and APEC (AsiaPacific Economic Cooperation). At the APEC
Ministerial Conference held in October 2003, the protection of intellectual property was mentioned in boththe State Leaders’ Declaration and the Ministerial
Declaration, in response to Japan’s suggestion. Also inAugust 2003, during the reviewing process of theGeneral Framework of ODA (Official Development
Assistance), the protection of intellectual property was
adopted as an important policy by the Japanese government. So, in the future, the developing countries

will be using ODA money to improve their intellectual
property systems to curb the number of infringementcases in their country, which in turn will support theirsustainable growth.
(2) Strengthening Border and Domestic Regulations
The amendment bill for the Customs Tariff Law was
submitted to the current Diet session and was enacted
on March 31st 2004, which makes it possible for customs to disclose the names of the manufacturer and theimporter of counterfeits or pirated copies that are interdicted by customs. Such information will enable therights holder to prepare for judicial rulings without
delay. Furthermore, from FY 2004, Customs andPolice will hold information-sharing meetings to
implement more effective interdictions.
Under the current legal system, the imports of counterfeits and pirated copies are not targets of control, if
they are intended for personal use. This, however, issaid to have encouraged the counterfeits and piracies
within the border, and a new system that will appropriately and quickly interdict the smuggling is beingsought for, following the examples of the courts ofEurope and ITC (International Trade Commission) of
the United States.
Regarding measures in overseas markets and borderand domestic regulations, the GOJ will make METI
serve as an integrated section for consultation services
so that the ministries and agencies concerned can workon the following measures in a united effort. In addition, the GOJ will establish a directors’ meeting of theministries and agencies concerned (tentative name) as
soon as possible in FY 2004, in order to establish comprehensive cooperation in taking measures against
counterfeits and pirated copies.
3.3. Exploitation of Intellectual Property
The intellectual creation cycle would be incomplete
without the adequate usage of intellectual properties.
In other words, the cycle will start from creating theintellectual property, and then go on to registering therights, but will finish with its exploitation, which produces earnings that will be used for further technology
development. It is with such mechanism that Japan
will be able to revitalize its economy and enhance its
international competitiveness.
So far there has been a substantial amount of R&D
investments in the Japanese private sector, but theusage of intellectual properties are inadequate and innumerous instances the patents are either unused ordead stock. For companies in the “selection and concentration” stages, it is vital to strategically exploit
their patents and other intellectual properties.

9H. Arai

Taking these matters in account, the Japanese government, through its Strategic Program, will implement the policies stated below.
3.3.1. Support for the strategic exploitation of intellectual properties
In order to support the pro-intellectual property management strategies of Japanese companies, theStrategic Program has been designed to carrying out
the following activities.
From the viewpoint of promoting the disclosure ofintellectual property information and to clarify the
relationship between intellectual properties and themain business of each company, especially in the securities market, the Guideline for Intellectual Property
Information Disclosure was formulated in January
2004. At the same time, the Strategic Index forIntellectual Property was also compiled to enhance theglobal competitiveness of Japanese firms.
To utilize the trust system for the purpose of managing and mobilizing intellectual property, it is necessary
to make it possible for trust businesses to handle intellectual properties and to admit TLOs and other generalbusinesses to enter the trust market. A bill to amend
the Trust Business Law has been submitted to the current Diet session to make this happen but it could notpass the Diet due to time constraint. The bill will be
examine in the next Diet session, it is desired that thebill be enacted as soon as possible.
3.3.2. Improving the environment for intellectual
property exploitation
In view of stabilizing and reinforcing the license
agreements of intellectual properties, a bill adding newprovisions to the Bankruptcy Law was submitted tothe current Diet session, and passed the Diet on May
25th 2004, which intentions are to allow more diverse
agreements, to limit the trustee’s right of rescission incase the licenser goes bankrupt, and to give more protection to the licensee.
In March 2004, the new Japan-US Tax Treaty hascome into force. The new treaty is intended to grant
immunity from taxation for royalties for intangible
asset including intellectual property at a source country. The new treaty would support intensively the companies which have intension to develop overseas business.
3.3.3. Supporting SMEs/Start-Ups and local areas
Compared with large companies, SMEs and Start-ups
have yet to fully understand the importance of intellectual property strategies and they do not have sufficient10

financial and human resources to be invested in intellectual property strategies. GOJ should promote support measures for such SMEs and start-ups as expected
to create new technologies in various fields relating to
the creation, protection, and exploitation of intellectual
property as well as the development of humanresources.
Fist of all, GOJ will start to take measures to reduce
annual patent fees, etc. by simplifying the procedures,
reinforcing public relations, and improving consultation services for local SMEs. Secondary, since it isnecessary to obtain rights and take measures against
counterfeits/pirated copies overseas, which would
require a large amount in costs, GOJ will drasticallyreinforce systems to provide SMEs and venture companies that have excellent technologies with support
and advice for filing applications and taking measuresagainst counterfeits/pirated copies, while being careful
to avoid moral hazard.
As for the IP-related activities in local governments,
some of them have started efforts to achieve regional
development with the use of intellectual property. GOJ
continues to encourage their activities.
3.4. Advancing Content Businesses
The world’s content industry is projected to continue
its growth at a higher rate than the world’s real GDP.
The Japanese content business amounts to 11 trillion
yen for the enrentainment indushg alone, and because
the related industries are very much spread out, muchis expected from the vitalization of the content business, which may be the key to our country’s economic
revival.
To dramatically advance the content business, it isnecessary to create attractive content, to provide
appropriate protection, and to promote wide distribution at home and abroad. Invigorating the above creative cycle of content, which can be called “cultural
re-production,” is indeed a pressing issue. However, inthe present state of affairs-the lack of response towards
the rapidly digitizing and networking society, the presence of feudalistic business practices, the shortage ofstaff, and the piracy problems-it is obvious that nosuitable measures have been taken to advance content
businesses.
3.4.1. Creating attractive contents
Through the Strategic Program the Japanese government will help humanities universities to design educational programs for content producers in the fields ofbusiness expertise and legal knowledge to deal withmatters related to contracts and fund-raising. It will

Intellectual Property Strategy in Japan

also establish advanced educational institutions for thedevelopment of creators’ skills, collaborate withhuman resource institutions overseas, and support
advanced education such as internship systems that
focus on individual ingenuity.
In order to ensure smooth financing for the production of movies and other content, the establishment of“movie funds” will be facilitated under the
Commodity Fund Law. Also from the viewpoint of
supporting the liquidity of copyrights, an amendment
bill of the Trust Business Law has been submitted tothe current Diet session to enable intellectual properties to be handled in trusts and to allow general companies to enter the business.
Other actions include: supporting the Tokyo
International Film Festival; conducting overseas public
relations through international trade fairs and otherevents; supporting activities of film commissions(non-profit organizations established by local governments to promote location shooting); improving thefunctions of the film center of the National Museum ofModern Art, Tokyo to store, disseminate, and show
film contents.
3.4.2. Protecting contents while being aware of the“intellectual creation cycle”
In order to provide substantial technical protection forcontent, it is important to promote the application anddiffusion of low-cost technical means, such as digitalwatermarking and digital rights management (DRM),
which utilizes safe and trustworthy charging systems.
To standardize such technologies, the Ministry of
Public Management, Home Affairs, Posts andTelecommunications is currently conducting various
empirical experiments.
As for legal protection reinforcement, a bill toamend the Copyright Law was submitted to the current
Diet session and passed the Diet on June 3rd 2004, in
which there will be included the granting of the rightof lending books and the inhibition of re-imported
music CDs.
3.4.3. Promoting distribution
As Japanese animated cartoons and game software arehighly competitive in overseas markets, it is essential
for content creators to participate in these markets tomaintain and enhance such competitiveness. To work
towards this end, the Japanese government is actively
supporting the overseas operations of Japanese content
businesses.
Other measures will also be taken to formulate content distribution markets, such as conducting researchon advanced overseas examples or performing R&D
for a new “distribution system,” which will make itpossible for content creators to select appropriate distribution channels for their content and to make online contracts.
Furthermore, GOJ will work toward the complete
compliance of the “self-imposed regulations” set down
by broadcasting companies and ensure proper transactions between the creator and distributor by introducing simple POS systems for ticketing services.
In addition, in the Strategic Program for 2004, whilestrengthening the protection of contents, it is also necessary to give consideration to the balance between
benefits of right holders and benefits of the public. For
the purpose of promoting fair use of contents, which
seems necessary for the whole of society, the GOJ willconsider ideal forms of “provisions to restrict rights”
under the Copyright Law in FY 2004. In the view touse existed contents properly, GOJ will review thearbitration procedures and will develop and publish themanual for using the arbitration system in CopyrightLaw.
3.4.4. Implementation of the above measures
To promptly carry out the above measures to develop
content businesses, a Content Business Promotion Law
was prepared by Diet members and passed the Diet on
May 28th 2004.
In addition to the law, in order to accomplish thereform effectively in the next three years, the GOJ will
immediately develop a roadmap for the reform andpromote efforts by the ministries and agencies concerned. The GOJ will review the progress in accomplishing the goals every year.
3.5. Developing Human Resources
It is important, when aiming to become an “intellectual
property-based nation,” to improve the various systems in each field by promoting the creation, protection, and exploitation of intellectual properties, butwhether or not we can use the system effectively or
obtain significant results eventually depends on thehuman factor. Therefore, in our country, it will become
more and more necessary to train experts in intellectual property matters, especially the outstanding personnel who are capable of surviving the international
competition brought about by the globalization ofbusiness activities related to intellectual properties.
3.5.1. Dramatically enhancing the quantity and quality of lawyers and patent attorneys
In order to complete the intellectual property creation

11

H. Araicycle, there must be a supporting service for intellectual properties specializing in matters such as acquisition, utilization, and settlement of disputes.
The number of legal professionals working in theintellectual property field is very small in Japan.
According to a report by the Judicial Reform Council(2001), an international comparison of the number ofcitizens per legal profession in 1997 showed that Japan
at that point had a highly inadequate legal service
compared to the United States and other European
countries (the numbers were 6,300 for Japan, 290 for
the US, and 710 for Great Britain). Increasing the total
number of legal professionals is essential to making alegal community that has many intellectual property
specialists. Based on this recognition, the Judicial
Reform Promotion Plan, decided by Cabinet in March
2003, says that the number of the successful candidates in bar examination will be 1,500 in 2004 and taking into account the situation of the judicial education
system including law-school, the number of that will
be 3,000 in 2010. In the Strategic Program for 2004,
GOJ will immediately consider including intellectual
property laws as optional subjects for the new nationalbar examination that will start in FY 2006, drawing aconclusion as soon as possible in FY 2004.
As for patent attorneys, their number is bound toincrease after the reform of the patent attorney examination. And from the viewpoints of enhancing thecomprehensive measures for intellectual property disputes and utilizing the neighboring legal occupations,the 500 of the accessory registered patent attorneys,
who will represent clients in specific patent infringement lawsuits, was registered by April 2004.
The Strategic Program for 2004 points out that it isimportant to increase the number of lawyers and patent
attorneys and improve their quality.
3.5.2. Promoting the education/research/training in
intellectual property
GOJ will promote intellectual property education at
law schools, professional schools specializing in intel-

12lectual property, and professional schools of MOT(Management of Technology). In all of the law schools
opening in April 2004 (a total of 68 schools with 5,590
students), there are lectures on Intellectual Property
Law, which is being considered for one of the optional
subjects in the national bar examination. In addition,
the GOJ will consider supporting postdoctoral fellows
in acquiring knowledge and skills relating to intellectual property.
3.5.3. Raising the public awareness of intellectual
property
Needless to say, the public awareness of intellectual
property must be raised for Japan to become a true
intellectual property-based nation. For this purpose,
GOJ needs to take fine-tuned actions in every awareness activity. Until now, 91 orientation sessions havebeen held nationwide to advertise the Intellectual
Property Strategic Program, which so far has turned
out approximately 11,000 attendees.

4. Future Efforts
In the two years after Prime Minister Junichiro
Koizumi made his political address in February 2002,
Japan took its first large step towards becoming an
intellectual property-based nation. The establishmentof the Intellectual Property High Court, the comprehensive measures to achieve zero waiting time forpatent examinations, and the advancement of content
business-all made clear to the world that Japan was
making a shift towards a knowledge-based nation. But
this is just the beginning, and to become a truly intellectual property-based nation there has to be a smoothcreation cycle of intellectual property, which will produce new wealth through the creation, protection, andexploitation of valuable intellectual properties. In
order to realize IP-based nation, the all things listed in
the Strategic Program for 2004 are to be done promptly and steadily. Japan will continue its journey toward
becoming an intellectual property-based nation.