International Activities
The 3rd International Affairs Committee visits Singapore and Malaysia
From February 20 through 23, 2011, the 3rd International Affairs Committee dispatched a six-member research team led by Vice Chairperson Nomura (Otsuka Pharmaceutical) to IP-related institutions in Singapore and Malaysia.In Singapore, in order to conduct an “Actual Condition Survey on Examination Cooperation in Asia and Oceania,” which is the mid/long-term theme of a subcommittee, we visited and exchanged opinions with patent firms, the Intellectual Property Office of Singapore (IPOS), courts, and JETRO. At the meetings with the patent firms, IPOS, and courts, we exchanged information based on the questionnaire that we had sent them in advance, which covered such topics as the outline of the patent system, substantive examination, modified substantive examination (MSE), the Patent Prosecution Highway (PPH), a system to make use of search and examination results made available by other patent offices, ASEAN Patent Examination Co-operation (ASPEC), and the roles of the court system in the field of IP. At the meeting with JETRO Singapore, we obtained information on the latest economic developments in Singapore.
In Malaysia, based on a request from Mr. Goh who is a lawyer and our counterpart in Malaysia, we attended the IPR Seminar (held by the JPO and the Malaysian Invention & Design Society). At the Seminar, we obtained information on the bill (draft) to revise the Patent Act of Malaysia in 2011 and exchanged opinions with other attendants. We need to keep an eye on the scheduled revision of the Malaysian Patent Act.
The research team is very satisfied with its achievements made in this Singapore/Malaysia tour. They built strong ties with various institutions and obtained information on the latest IP-related developments in those countries.
The 3rd International Affairs Committee will continue to provide member companies with useful information obtained through close communications with those institutions.
