International Activities
JIPA Trademark Committee: Participation in the 3rd TM5 Meeting
From December 3 to 5, 2014, the TM5 (JPO, USPTO, EPO, CIPO and KIPO) Annual Meeting was held at Tokyo Prince Hotel. This was the fifth meeting between
the patent offices and users, following the meeting in South Korea last year. The purpose of the meeting is to present a report on the progress of the projects which
TM5 is working on, as well as annual reports by the TM5 Offices and explanation on their efforts in tackling common themes. Also, the meeting was aimed at promoting
harmonization and improving trademark systems and practices by exchanging opinions with user groups. User groups from Japan are Japan Patent Attorneys Association
(JPAA) and Japan Trademark Association (JTA).
Regarding the joint projects, we were able to confirm the progress of the projects from the reports by the lead offices. We also participated in the Q&A session between the offices and the user groups, focusing on the details of Taxonomy, which is expected to be the tool for describing designated goods in trademark applications, and the improvement in the convenience of TM View, which is a search tool for international trademarks. Taking this opportunity, we were able to request that TM5 carry out each project while taking into account the viewpoint of user friendliness.
In addition, the annual reports by the TM5 offices enabled us to confirm the status of applications and registrations in the member countries and the measures that they were implementing with priority. Regarding "new types of trademarks" which will be introduced in Japan as well, we also heard the offices' reports on the status of applications, registrations and disputes, and participated in the Q&A session between the offices and user groups. Through this, we contributed to having the awareness of the current situation shared among all parties concerned toward the aim of establishing a better trademark system.
Furthermore, in the afternoon of December 4, JIPA arranged a tour for the meeting participants to visit Kao Corporation as an event to introduce a major example of a Japanese company, and JPAA, JTA and JIPA conducted a dinner reception to promote friendship among the participants, at which JIPA President, Mr. Kazushi Takemoto (Suntory HD), delivered a speech.
For the next fiscal year, the meeting will be held in the U.S.A. The Trademark Committee will continue cooperative efforts for TM5 projects aimed at harmonization of trademark systems, which is greatly beneficial to companies.
