International Activities

Opinion Exchange with Patent Examiners from India and Brazil

On November 14, 2014, a discussion meeting with patent examiners from India and Brazil was held at the Asia-Pacific Industrial Property Center of the Japan Institute of Invention and Innovation. These examiners, namely, Mr. Manivasakam Marimuthu Ramaswamy, Ms. Rajni Bala, Ms. Seema and Mr. Susanta Das from India, and Ms. Karla Consort Ribeiro and Ms. Viviane Gomes Almeida from Brazil, came to Japan to attend the training in patent examination practice. From JIPA, members of the First International Patent Committee and the India Group of the Asia Project (a total of ten persons) attended this meeting.

The attendees from JIPA asked the Indian and Brazilian patent examiners questions, mainly with regard to the examination process and the operations carried out by examiners in these respective countries. More specifically, in their questions to Brazilian examiners they focused on differences in examination practices between Japan and Brazil, and on correlations of Brazilian laws relating to patents, whereas in their questions to Indian examiners they focused on the status of the increasing workload imposed on examiners accompanying the recent rise in the number of patent applications, and the quality of descriptions submitted by Japanese applicants. Through this opportunity, they were able to hear frank opinions from Brazilian and Indian patent examiners on these matters.
In turn, the attendees from JIPA received questions from Brazilian and Indian patent examiners with regard to JIPA's activities and Japan's IP policy. We believe that their answers enabled these examiners to understand the distinctive characteristics of JIPA among IP-related associations in Japan.

Although the meeting was scheduled for three hours, Japanese attendees and foreign attendees continued asking each other questions even after the scheduled time to end the meeting. Thus, the meeting was very rewarding to both sides. JIPA sends a delegation to India every year, and for FY2014, it will send a delegation in February 2015. As a result of the exchange with India and Brazil through holding such a meeting with patent examiners of these countries in Tokyo, in addition to sending the delegation, we have acquired more information on the IP situations in India and Brazil and also have come to feel more familiar with these countries.

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