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Japan IP News Bulletin
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2017 June Issue (July 10, 2017)

LATEST IP NEWS IN JAPAN
July 4, 2017
The Abe administration has announced its decision to appoint Naoko Munakata as the new JPO
Commissioner. This is the first time a female has been appointed to the position of JPO
Commissioner. Ms. Munakata assumed the position of secretary to the Prime Minister two years
ago and originally cut her teeth at the Ministry of Economy, Trade, and Industry (METI). Thisdecision is part of government efforts to promote gender equality while strengthening efforts
regarding intellectual property (IP) to strengthen industrial competitiveness.
Original Report 1 (only JP version) Original Report 2 (only JP version)
June 29, 2017
The JPO issued an Annual Report 2017 covering a wide range of IP topics, such as (a) domestic
trends in IP, (b) JPO initiatives, (c) international trends in IP etc. with a variety of statistics.
Unfortunately, only the Japanese report is currently available. If you are interested in aparticular topic, please feel free to contact us.
Original Announcement (only JP version)May 17, 2017

The JPO and Heads of Patent Offices from ASEAN counties made a joint statement concerning
the Intellectual Property and Agreement on IP Rights Action Plan.
Original Announcement
May 9, 2017
The JPO and The International Telecommunication Union (ITU) agreed to cooperate in the fieldsof patents and standardization to improve the quality of patent examination for standards-relatedinventions.
Original Announcement
May 8, 2017
The JPO issued a report summarizing trends in patent filings for 15 technical fields, including:- Smart Manufacturing,- Cloud Services,- Facilities for Agriculture,- Genome Editing and Gene Therapy,- Artificial Organs,- Cameras for Mobile Applications,- Tests for Batteries,- Automobile Technologies for India and ASEAN,- Fine Bubble Technologies,- Fiber-reinforced Plastic,- Cellular Mobile Systems toward LTE-Advanced and 5G,- Next-generation Video Coding Technologies,- GaN Power Devices,- High-efficient Thermal Power Generation and Gas Turbines for Plants, and- Water Processing.
Unfortunately, only the Japanese report is currently available. If you are interested in aparticular topic, please feel free to contact us.
Original Announcement (only JP version)
April 27, 2017The JPO announced an action plan to use AI for operations at the JPO. The plan includes
utilization of AI or feasible study of AI for:
- The call center / help desk,- Electronic filing,- Electronic study of applicants' stamps,- Confirmation on whether registered trademarks are used in specifications,- Quality checks of submitted documents (typographical error detection),- Patent and design classifications,- Prior art searches and prior design and trademark searches,- Understanding and recognizing inventions, and- Decisions on whether inventions are patentable, whether designs are registrable, and whether
trademarks are registrable.
Unfortunately, only the Japanese report is currently available. If you are interested in aparticular topic, please feel free to contact us.
Original Announcement (only JP version)
April 19, 2017
The METI issued a report compiled by the Intellectual Property System Study Group for theFourth Industrial Revolution. The report covers topics such as (a) who owns IP created by AI,(b) Protection of Big Data, (c) International Standardization etc.
Original Announcement

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