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EPO-JIPA Workshop in Tokyo

On October 18, 2016, Ms. Heli Pihlajamaa, Director of EPO in charge of patent law-related affairs, and Mr. John Beatty, Director of EPO in charge of patent granting-related affairs, visited JIPA's office and had an opinion exchange meeting with JIPA. A total of 8 JIPA members including Mr. Suzuki, a managing director, and Mr. Miyashita, an international policy PJ leader, attended the meeting. When EPO officials come to Japan, they visit JIPA's office to have a meeting for exchanging information and opinions on European IP at the request of JIPA, although their visit is irregular. This year, the present meeting is the second time following the one held in March.

In the present meeting, following an exchange of greetings, EPO presented information on, for example, "faster and more accurate prosecution," "revision of procedures in EPO," and "recent determination by the Examining Divisions of EPO and its impacts on litigation," and exchanged opinions on each theme with JIPA.

After that, both parties exchanged opinions on the withdrawal of the United Kingdom (UK) from the European Union (EU) and its impacts. EPO explained that although there were many uncertainties under existing circumstances, many companies in the EU, especially UK companies, expressed positive opinions on the EU Unitary Patent System and the establishment of the Unified Patent Court.

JIPA and EPO agreed to continue to exchange opinions and information in the future.

[Update 2016-10-18 ]