International Activities

Trilateral Patent Offices & Users Meeting, B+ meeting, and Trilateral Users Meeting

A Trilateral Meeting of Patent Offices (USPTO, EPO, JPO) & Users was held at the USPTO on February 23, 2016. USPTO Director Michelle K. Lee, EPO Vice-President Raimund Lutz, and JPO Deputy Commissioner Masayuki Koyanagi represented their respective patent offices at the meeting. JIPA, AIPLA & IPO and BusinessEurope represented users at the meeting. Ms. Miyashita, PJ Leader, Mr. Ohashi, Harmonization WG Leader and other committee members, such as Mr. Otsuka and Mr. Iwasaki, represented JIPA at the meeting.
At this meeting, the 3 patent offices and WIPO gave presentations about their recent activities, etc. The B+ group then gave a presentation about activities related to harmonization of the grace period, the conflicting applications, and the system for the right of prior use. The users’ side participants gave a presentation about activities related to the 3 aforementioned issues and made proposals as trilateral users. The users' presentation was based on discussions only among trilateral users on the afternoon of February 22. The users examined substantive harmonization (grace periods, conflicting applications, and rights of prior use), identified common ground and examined available options.
The JPO gave a presentation about its procedural harmonization ("unity of invention," "description requirement," "prior art") activities and exchanged opinions with users. The users explained the necessity of harmonization in each field and requested prompt examination. JIPA presented the results of JIPA's research and analysis concerning "prior art" and proposed the topics and manner of future discussions. The 3 patent offices commented that they are very interested in JIPA's research and analysis.
Regarding the 3rd meeting of the IP5 Global Dossier Task Force held by the five patent offices and users, the participants were provided with an explanation about the progress of the global dossier and exchanged opinions.

In the afternoon of February 22, a meeting was held only among trilateral users with regard to the future direction of substantive and procedural harmonization. JIPA presented the results of its research on issues concerning the description requirement and prior art, proposed the future examination direction and exchanged opinions on the direction of discussions on each topic as preparation for the meeting with the JPO scheduled for the following day.

JIPA took advantage of this visit to the US and exchanged opinions with the Intellectual Property Owners Association (IPO) regarding their respective activities, such as organization management, training programs, committee activities, and international activities. Both parties agreed on the need for future collaboration.

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