International Activities

The 14th Session of the WIPO Madrid Working Group

During June 13 to 17, 2016, the 14th session of the Madrid Working Group was held at WIPO in Geneva, Switzerland. The session is an international conference held once a year to share issues related to the Madrid Protocol and common rules and review and discuss the revision of the regulations, etc.

This time, delegations from the Madrid Protocol member countries (54 countries) and non-member countries (10 countries) as well as 14 international organizations and relevant organizations took part in the conference. From Japan, the Japan Patent Office, the Japan Patent Attorneys Association, the Japan Trademark Association, and JIPA participated therein, and JIPA sent 2 members, Mr. Yoshida (Toyota) and Ms. Kobayashi (Citizen) of the Trademark Committee.

This year, the agenda included, as last year, "dependence (Central Attack)," "relaxation of trademarks identity requirements," and "introduction of systems of division/merging," which would each have a significant influence on Japanese companies. Thus, JIPA delivered Japanese corporate users' opinions on the agenda.

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