7

Methodology for Promotion of the Development of Human
Resources Related to Intellectual Property

In the course of developing human resources engaged in IP affairs, it is of critical importanceto develop not only high-level specialists but also personnel who assist/aid or support them,further expanding the volume of “supporting human resources” in the IP field. As an institutional
measure for encouraging the development of such human resources, in this research study, we
examined the idea of establishing a new certification, accreditation or qualification.
As a result, it has been revealed that among IP assistant specialists who assist/aid or support
IP core specialists (e.g. patent attorneys and personnel of IP departments), those engaged in “IPclerical assistance/aid work” demand a certification or accreditation, and it will be effective toestablish a new certification or accreditation targeting such personnel.
We have also developed possible models of schemes for awarding a quasi-academic degree topeople engaged in management and technical work who also play an active role in the field of IP
management.
On the other hand, in order to increase the “public awareness of intellectual property,” it isnecessary to make young people realize “respect for originality,” and to this end, a certification or
accreditation targeting instructors of children may be more effective than the one targetingchildren.

Ivolume of “supporting human resources” in
the IP field. One effective and efficientinstitutional measure for encouraging thedevelopment of such human resources would
be to consider how to promote thedevelopment of human resources related tointellectual property by means of acertification, accreditation or qualification.
Based on this recognition, we formed acommittee with experts and relevant people
in this field, and conducted a research study
focusing on certifications, accreditations andqualifications designed to assure the qualityof human resources, provide motivation forlearning, and promote mobilization of humanresources as a result. We successfully found a
direction toward tackling these issues
through discussions.
We hope that this report will contributeto the “development of human resources whocreate, protect, and exploit intellectual
property,” on the road to making Japan an
IP-based nation.

Introduction

1

Introduction
Japan is currently putting forward
strategic initiatives to achieve the national
goal of becoming an intellectual property(IP)-based nation. In addition to designingproper systems, one of the most importanttasks in this area is to develop necessary
human resources. In order to establish aplatform for making Japan an IP-based
nation, it is an issue of utmost urgency todevelop a sufficient number of personnel thatare fully capable of promoting activities in
the field of intellectual property and assign
the right personnel to the right positions.
As advocated in the 2005 JPO researchstudy on industrial property system issues
entitled “Ideal Scheme for the Developmentof Human Resources Related to Intellectual
Property,” in the course of developing humanresources engaged in IP affairs, it is of criticalimportance to develop not only high-levelspecialists but also personnel who assist/aid
or support them, further expanding the1
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discussed a certification or accreditation
designed for developing creative ability inschoolchildren and students, as well as acertification or accreditation regarding
creative activity instructors/supporters.

2

Background and Aim of the ResearchStudyIP human resources can be divided into
three categories: IP specialists (first category),
human resources related to intellectual
property (second category), and the entire
public including future generations who will
have the potential to be engaged in the IP
field (third category).
The first category consists of (i) corehuman resources specializing in protecting
and obtaining IP rights, such as personnel ofIP departments of private companies, patent
attorneysandlawyers,andJPO
examiners/trial examiners, and (ii) those who“assist/aid or support” such core IP
specialists, or in other words, “IP assistantspecialists.” In this study, we focused on thelatter category of human resources as the
major subject, exploring the possibility of
establishing a new certification, accreditationor qualification so as to create anenvironment for the professionalization of IP
assistant specialists.
The second category consists of thoseengaged in the “creation” and “exploitation”
phases in the IP creation cycle. The challenge
in this area is to promote the development of“R&D personnel from the perspective of IP
management” and “management personnel
with the ability to exploit intellectual
property.” One desirable measure would be toenable the currently active personnel to have“double major degrees.” However, considering
time constraints, it would be more feasible toestablish a minor or quasi-academic degreein the IP field (e.g. a “postgraduate diploma
in IP management”), thereby encouraging theacquisition of both “major and minor” degrees.
We examined the feasibility of thisdual-degree scheme.
The third category consists of the entire
public excluding those in the first and second
categories. What we should aim at in regard
to this category is to “increase the publicawareness of intellectual property” or “fostera graceful national culture underpinned by
the respect for creativity.” We investigatedthe current status of IP education as a means
to achieve this aim. In particular, we

3

Current Status of Certifications,
Accreditations and Qualifications
The primary purpose of qualifications is
to assure people’s ability to perform certain
professional operations. On the other hand,certifications and accreditations are also
intended to motivate people to learn bydeclaring the level of ability assured.
In particular, in the case of national
qualifications, making a false statement of
one’s qualifications and using a title of aqualification similar to that of a national
qualification are legally prohibited.
Since certifications and accreditations
only serve to prove that those who haveobtained the relevant certification or
accreditation have a certain ability, theymust not be confused with qualifications that
authorize the qualified persons to exclusively
perform certain professional operations, andany attempt to intentionally cause such
confusion should be prevented.
As operations to be performed in aparticular field become more sophisticatedand complicated, people who specialize in thefield are required to upgrade their activities.
Specialists should make necessary efforts toadvance and broaden their capabilities, but
at the same time, they need assistance or aid
in carrying out their professional work or
support from people around them. In otherwords, such needs lead to the generation ofassistance/aid or support work in the
periphery of specialized core work. People
engaged in performing such assistance/aid or
support work gradually improve theircapabilities while working and finally reachthe level of specialists. In the field of medical
services, doctors are assisted and supported
by professionals in nursing, inspection,
rehabilitation or medication. Similarly, in the
IP field area, patent attorneys needassistance and support from personnel
around them, and it is now required to2

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-develop such personnel in charge ofassistance or support work as specialists. In
this context, it would be worth considering
the establishment of a “new qualification,
certification or accreditation” so as to assure
the quality of such personnel and provide
them with a motivation for learning.
Core
specialists
arecapableofperforming all operations in their specialized
fields, whereas assistant specialists aresupposed to work under the direction andsupervision of core specialists. This meansthat there is an irreversible “complementary”
relationship between specialized core workand specialized assistance/aid or support
work and between core specialists andassistant/aid or support specialists. If suchassistant/aid or support specialists become
more like professionals and enhance theirrelationship with core specialists, a synergy
effect will be realized in the IP field as awhole.
Core specialists, by “broadening” therange of their capabilities so as to cover
peripheral operations relating to their
specialized fields, will be able, paradoxically,
to further advance their capabilities in their
specialized fields. If core specialists in such
peripheral fields also “broaden” the range of
their capabilities, collaboration between core
specialists will further advance and enhancetheir work performance (mutual broadeningof specialized fields). Through mutualinteraction, these groups will also be able toeducate each other. A desirable means ofmotivation for learning and quality
assurance would be a “double major degree”
scheme, but more realistically, it would be
worth considering the establishment of aminor degree in the IP field as a“quasi-academic
degree”underthe“major-minor dual degree” scheme in order toeffectively broaden specialists’ specialized
fields.
When designing a new certification,accreditation or qualification, we set thefollowing principles:- Precluding the idea of establishing a newnational qualification from the scope ofsubjects in this research study;

-

-

II
1

Main Discussion

Development of IP Associate Human
Resources(1) Clerical work related to intellectual
property can be roughly divided into threefunctions.
The function to help preparing application
documents for obtaining industrial property
rights(excluding
patent/utility
model
descriptions),
carrying
out
regularapplication procedures, and performing otheroperations in general incidental thereto iscalled “IP clerk function.”
The function to assist the document
management, time management, and fee
management is called “IP administration
function.” This function requires not only
legal knowledge but also knowledge on
computer systems.
The function to assist patent attorneys’
legal services is called “IP legal assistantfunction.” This function requires capabilities(knowledge, skills, judgment ability) in
dealing with legal and other relevant issues
in general in the IP field.
A
certificationoraccreditation
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Fully examining whether or not a newcertification,accreditationor
qualification will cause any adverse
side-effect; a new examination, etc. would
be acceptable if it is suitable for theintended users and free from any adverse
effect on other people;
Giving due consideration to consistency
with the existing national qualifications,etc. even if the new qualification,
certificationoraccreditationisestablished as a private one;
Being fully careful to avoid establishing a
new qualification that is liable to be
mistaken for (confused with) or misused
as any existing qualification; for instance,a new qualification should not be used bythose not qualified as a patent attorneywhen they perform the operations whichpatentattorneysareexclusively
authorized to perform.

involved in disputes and lawsuits withforeign companies. With regard to “IPinterpretation and translation work,” there isan opinion that human resources capable ofperforming such work will grow naturally outof the need to carry out corporate activities,
even where there is not any particularcertification or accreditation. It is also argued
that it is difficult to forecast to what extent acertification or accreditation will be effectiveindeveloping
high-levelspecialists.
Furthermore, initiatives for human resource
development should target not only Japanesepeople but also Chinese and other foreign
people studying in Japan. The future
discussion should also examine whether or
not a certification or accreditation in thisarea will serve to motivate such foreign
people to improve their skills.
(4) In dealing with intellectual property, it isan essential task to search for a vast amountof information on technical and legal matters.
The function to perform such an information
search is called “IP searcher function.” Inparticular, those engaged in patent
information searching are required to becapable of performing information retrieval
using information technology or performing
technology analysis. In the area of“information search work,” since different
capabilities are required depending on the
purpose, technology, and industry, acertification or accreditation will be effective
only with regard to the basic operations of
the search work. If we focus on the area ofbasic search techniques, we can find thatmost of this area is covered by searcher
training programs implemented by the
National Center for Industrial Property
Information and Training (INPIT) andvarious other training services provided byprivate companies. Nevertheless, it would bea desirable measure to award a certificationor accreditation to those who have completed
training programs as a means of motivation
for learning and ability assurance.

concerning the capabilities (knowledge, skills,
and judgment ability) to perform this “IP
clerical assistance/aid work” is highly
demanded as a means of ability assurance or
motivation for learning especially among
clerical staff currently working at patent
attorneys’ firms and therefore expected to beeffective in human resource development inthis area. Potential needs for such acertification or accreditation can also befound among those who are interested infinding jobs in the IP field or those registeredas temporary staff at personnel agencies. It
will be a future task to fully consider thecontents of a new certification or
accreditation,
while
accurately
understanding such needs.
(2) The function to practically assist theoperations relating to technical matters at
patent firms is called “IP technical assistantfunction.” Knowledge on technical matters is
absolutely necessary for patent practice. In
particular, drafting of patent descriptions
requires high-level expert knowledge ontechnical
matters.
Furtheradvanced
technical knowledge is needed whenanalyzing the technical scope of a patentright in patent disputes or lawsuits. A
certification or accreditation intended to
improve the capabilities of personnel incharge of “assistance work on patent andtechnical matters” is needed among patentfirms and expected to be effective in humanresource development in this area. Personnel
agencies may also be interested in such acertification or accreditation. It will be a
future task to fully consider the contents of a
new certification or accreditation, while
accurately understanding such needs.
(3) Accurate interpretation and translation
are required on various occasions of dealing
with intellectual property, e.g. filing
applications for foreign patent offices andnegotiating contracts with foreign companies(called “IP translator function” and “IPinterpreterfunction”).
Translationis
indispensable
when
preparingpatentdescriptions and other application documents
to be submitted to foreign patent offices,whereas interpretation is important when
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2

Introduction of a Postgraduate
Diploma (Quasi-Academic Degree)(1) Backgroundfor
discussingthepossibilityofintroducingapostgraduate diploma
In order to provide human resources
capable of playing an active role in a wide
range of IP management, it is necessary todevelop specialists in the fusion area where
relevant fields such as IP legal affairs,
science and technology, and business
management overlap. Those currently
specialized in relevant fields are also
expected to study IP management. In short,specialists are now required to study
expertise in other fields and broaden therange of their capabilities.
Meanwhile, universities and otherequivalent institutions should, in addition toawarding conventional diplomas, also
consider implementing various IP courses
and programs and awarding qualifications as
credits for the completion of these courses
and programs.
One desirable measure would be toestablish a “double major degree” scheme forenabling people to obtain diplomas andspecial qualifications in several related fields.
However, this would be “desirable” but notvery “feasible” in reality due to time
constraints for working people. A morefeasible alternative would be to establish asystem or environment where working people
can effectively and efficiently acquire
IP-related knowledge, skills and judgment
ability in an intensive manner during a shortperiod of time. This may be called“major-minor dual degree” scheme.
More specifically, it would be more
realistic to establish a postgraduate diploma(PG diploma), which is popular mainly inEurope, as a minor or quasi-academic degree,and encourage people to obtain it.
By introducing a PG diploma in the fieldof IP management, we will be able to (i)assure the quality of education, (ii) provide
motivation for learning, and (iii) promotemobilization of human resources in the IP
field as a result.

(2) Example of PG diploma (United
Kingdom)
A diploma is a title generally awarded tothose who have completed a certain
educational course, and the one awarded forthe courses at postgraduate schools is called
postgraduate diploma. In particular, in the
British Commonwealth of Nations, a PG
diploma is treated in the same manner as an
academic degree. In this sense, it can begenerally regarded as being in between abachelor’s degree and a master’s degree. The
most advanced PG diploma is the one
prevailing in the United Kingdom, especiallyin England and Wales, and it is a basic modelthat is most popular worldwide, mainly in the
British Commonwealth of Nations.
A PG diploma is awarded for those whohave already obtained a bachelor’s or higher
degree. There are three types of standard PG
diploma courses: (i) the PG diploma courseforobtainingthediplomaasaquasi-academic degree, (ii) the PG diploma
course combined with a master’s degree
course, and (iii) the PG diploma course as aprofessional training program.
(3) Possibility of introducing a PG diploma
in the IP fieldIf we consider the introduction of an
educational course for obtaining a PG
diploma in Japan as a measure to promote
the development of human resources in IP
management, one possible method would beto encourage people who are currently
playing an active role in the IP field or
expected to enter this field to obtain an “IP
PG diploma” in a broad or narrow sense.
From the viewpoint of assuring thequality of education, universities and otherequivalent institutions can be the major
entities to implement PG diploma courses.
Considering that a PG diploma can be
regarded as a kind of qualification or credit
for the completion of a certain course fordeveloping specialists rather than as an
academic degree, and that lecturers should
be appointed from IP practitioners, it may
also be possible for universities andIP-related organizations to jointly design andimplement
IP
PG
diplomacourses5

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those who currently act as patent attorneys
or other IP specialists). This model isadvantageous in clearly distinguishing an IP
PG diploma from other kinds of diplomas ordegrees and designing and implementing
programs suitable for educational purposes.
However, it faces a problem due to thedifficulty in securing resources (e.g. budgets,teachers) compared with the other twomodels.

(academia-industry
collaborationineducation).
There are three possible models of PG
diploma schemes.
[Model 1: Digest version of an IP course atpostgraduate school]
This is an IP PG diploma course
established by selecting necessary subjects
from those included in the existing IP courses
at postgraduate schools related to or
specialized in intellectual property. Currently,
a number of students take IP-related courses
at IP-specialized postgraduate schools, butthey will never be able to obtain an
authoritative accreditation of how many
courses they complete. A PG diploma would
be a significant incentive for those who study
intellectual property at such specialized
postgraduate schools.

3Intellectual Property Education for the
PublicThe third category of IP humanresources is the entire public excluding thosein the first and second categories. It is agroup of people that supports the first andsecond categories, while producing membersof these categories. Detailed measures forhuman resource development should bepromoted, targeting individual categories ofpeople, including working people as well as
students in respective school grades.
Currently, different entities provide
various opportunities for IP education.
At universities, engineering departments
and postgraduate schools in engineering
provide introductory programs on intellectual
property, focusing on the phase of creation of
intellectual property (from the viewpoint of
inventors). On the other hand, IP
departments and IP-specialized postgraduate
schools focus on protection and exploitation of
intellectual property.
Private companies send their personnel
to participate in training programs forhuman resources related to intellectual
property, which are provided by IP-relatedorganizations, such as the Japan Intellectual
Property Association (JIPA) and the Japan
Institute of Invention and Innovation (JIII).
The Association of Intellectual Property
Education implements the “IP Proficiency
Test” for working people and students ingeneral. Grade 1 is for “IP personnel at
private companies” and Grade 2 is for“general personnel at private companies(engaged in management, legal or IP affairs,
publicity, sales, etc.), working people ingeneral,andstudents.”
Among
the

[Model 2: Selection of subjects fromundergraduate IP course]
An IP PG diploma of this model consistsof required subjects selected from anundergraduate IP course, together withspecial subjects of an advanced level.
However, at present, there are only a limited
number of undergraduate courses specialized
in intellectual property, and therefore it isvery difficult to provide educational
programs in convenient hours for working
people (in the evening on weekdays, and in
the daytime on weekends). The University of
the Air and other equivalent entities may beable to satisfy the needs of such people, butthey need to increase the number ofprograms in the IP field in order toimplement an IP PG diploma course with
sufficient programs.
[Model 3: New educational program forworking people]
The third option is to create new IP PG
diploma courses and subjects. There may be
two types of courses, MBA-level courses (fordeveloping junior IP managers aged around30) and executive-level courses (fordeveloping senior IP managers aged around40 or broadening the range of capabilities of
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participants in the Grade 2 test, thepercentage of those who are not engaged in
IP affairs (including students) is increasing.
This test can now be appreciated as a test for
examining the proficiency in this field.
The JIII organizes “Invention Clubs for
Schoolchildren” and provides schoolchildren
andstudents
withexperience-based
educational programs so as to enable them tohave the opportunity to create inventions.
The activities of the invention clubs can behighly appreciated. In the future, efforts
should be made to “establish invention clubs
in all municipalities” and “consider
complementary functions that invention
clubs can perform in addition to education in
intellectual creativity at elementary andjunior high schools, and introduce anaccreditation or certification scheme.”
As a measure to increase the incentive
for learning in the IP and IP management
fields, we examined the necessity and effectof a scheme for awarding an accreditation or
certification for schoolchildren and students,and found that it is difficult, at least for
private entities, to continue to implement
schemes for awarding accreditations thatwould not serve as useful advantages for
progressing to higher education or finding
jobs. Special consideration should be given to
ensuring profitabilityofaccreditation
services targeting the public includingchildren. Therefore, we then discussed thepossibility of establishing an accreditation
scheme for teachers or instructors separatelyfrom that for children. A creative activity
instructor/supporter accreditation scheme
would be effective for improving the teachingability among teachers and instructors aswell as assuring the quality of instructors
and increasing their incentive. Further
investigation and discussion will be requiredin the future.
In the area of IP education for the public,
there is also an urgent need to educate
various business operators, especially thoseengaged in distribution, retail, and rental
services.

III ConclusionThe
futureinitiatives
forthedevelopment of IP human resources should
aim for reform, not only increasing thequantity but also improving the quality ofhuman resources. The committee focused on“certifications,accreditations,
andqualifications” as a means to promote a new
way of human resource development,
exploring the potential and limit thereof. The
findings in our study are as follows.
(1) There is a limit to the performance of
IP-related operations only by “core IP
specialists” such as patent attorneys andpersonnel of IP departments, and they now
need assistance/aid or support from “IPassistant specialists.” It will be important toclearly define the specialized fields of IP
assistant specialists and raise theirprofessional awareness, while developing an
institutional framework for motivating themto improve their capabilities and learn. With
regard to “IP clerical assistance/aid work”
and “assistance work on patent and technicalmatters,” it has been revealed that acertification or accreditation is needed among
patent firms and expected to be highly
effective in human resource development. On
the other hand, with regard to “IPinterpretationandtranslation
work,”
although a shortage of human resources inthis area is strongly recognized, we should
further closely examine to what extent acertification or accreditation would be
effective in satisfying the needs for such
personnel. Similarly, although the needs forhuman resources engaged in “information
search work” are rapidly increasing, we wereunable to clearly find out the effect of acertification or accreditation.
(2) Establishing a PG diploma as aquasi-academic degree and encouraging
people to obtain it may be effective forenabling people currently engaged in IP
affairs as well as those engaged inmanagement or technical affairs to study IP
management. We developed three feasiblemodels for introducing a PG diploma inJapan. In the future, we should consider how
7

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to realize these models and put them into
practice.
(3) In order to increase the “publicawareness of intellectual property,” it isnecessary to make people, especially when
they are still young, realize “respect fororiginality” (the incentive for creation
activities and the refusal of counterfeits andpirated copies). To this end, we have reacheda conclusion that a certification or
accreditation
targeting
instructorsofchildren would be more effective than the one
targeting children. However, there is stillroom for consideration of this measure, andwe should carry out further investigation on
this issue.
The important task in the future will be
to consider details of the methods forestablishing certifications or accreditations
regarding “IP clerical assistance/aid work”
and “assistance work on patent and technicalmatters” mentioned in (1) and establishing
an IP PG diploma as a quasi-academic degree
mentioned in (2). Investigation should also bemade with regard to the issue mentioned in(3).
(Senior Researcher:Takashi HORINAKA)

8IIP Bulletin 2007