Greetings for the New Year 2016

Happy New Year
Half a year has already passed since I assumed the important and weighty position as chairperson of the Japan Intellectual Property Association. During this time the association has worked energetically to address various IP-related challenges amid global political and economic changes, and has made steady accomplishments to allow us to happily welcome in the New Year.

Looking back over the past year, a basic accord was reached in the TPP agreement, a 21st century high standard trade agreement that was many years in the making. This pact will lay the foundation for a huge economic sphere that represents almost 40 percent of global GDP, opening up a new battle in global economic strategy.
Notably, during the negotiations, fierce talks continued up until the very end among the United States and the emerging countries or Australia regarding protection of medical data, copyrights and others, underscoring to those both inside and outside Japan the importance of intellectual property in national strategy.

Amid such a climate, last year our association was able to share our opinions, deepen mutual understanding and also raise awareness of our members at numerous meetings in Japan and abroad. These meetings included: participation in the “IP5 Patent Office Presidents and IP5 Users Meeting” and “IP5 Users Meeting” (May) aimed at improving the quality and efficiency of patent examination; hosting the “Third Symposium on the Protection of Technical Information” (July); participation in the 22nd Session of the WIPO-SCP in Switzerland (July), which aims for system coordination; discussions with the authorities concerned with economic cooperation agreements; and sending an IIPPF public-private joint working-level mission to China (November) in an effort to resolve the issue of IP infringement in China through counterfeiting and piracy.

Top officials of the patent offices of the United States, Germany, France, the UK, and other major countries also visited JIPA. We exchanged candid opinions and received their high praise of the association’s scale, energetic activities both in Japan and abroad, and thorough IP training system, as a globally unprecedented association of users of the IP system. I believe these meetings were also very meaningful for JIPA’s future implementation of global activities including those for mutual cooperation and exchanging information.

The world is now seeing a rush of new businesses in areas such as the environment, energy, drugs, healthcare, and transportation, and the evolution of the Internet of Things (IoT), also called the fourth industrial revolution, is dramatically accelerating change in the structure of these industries. Against this backdrop, growing expectations are held on the global activities of JIPA in also identifying and dealing with new IP issues such as the ownership access rights and/or use rights of big data.

As political and economic climates grow harsher, with the speed of change accelerating as well, I believe that this year will see the world becoming more chaotic in all aspects. Amid such an environment, following the basic agreement to the TPP, movements such as promoting the Japan-China-ROK FTA negotiations; starting the ASEAN Economic Community (AEC); conducting studies on achieving the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP); and the Japan-EU EPA negotiations will pick up speed, and in the process it is predicted that IP strategy will become a key issue of fierce debate among the countries involved.

As we start what will be a challenging year and, precisely because of this, a year of great changes that present a golden opportunity for innovation, I hope to work with you in proactively taking on the challenge of finding solutions to problems and creating new value.

Creating an IP Vision for the World!
May I conclude by wishing all JIPA members much success and prosperity in the New Year.