“Make international organizations more user-friendly!”

1. Delivering a general statement at the Assemblies of the Member States of WIPO

On behalf of Japan, Commissioner Munakata delivered a general statement at the beginning of the opening session. She stated that WIPO should provide its services from the user’s perspective, in the light of the fact that a large part of WIPO’s income is covered by fees, and she showed Japan’s expectations for WIPO to act as a role model for other international organizations in terms of user-friendliness.

 

In addition, she explained the JPO’s efforts for improving user-friendliness of its services from the user’s perspective, stating that other IP offices also should place the same emphasis on user-friendliness. Details of the explanation are as follows:

The JPO:

• Started a new system called “Super Accelerated Examination” in July 2018, in which startups as applicants are able to acquire patent rights within approximately 2 and half months, so as to meet their needs for fast resolution;
• Established a project team for design management in August 2018, aiming to provide more user-friendly services; and
• Aims to become a gateway of global patents by bridging international search reports (ISR) prepared by the JPO and the Patent Prosecution Highway (PPH) program.

• General Statement(PDF:46KB)

2. Meetings with other participating patent offices

Taking the opportunity of the Assemblies of the Member States of WIPO, the JPO had meetings with other participating IP offices in over 20 countries and regions, including European and North American, Asian, Latin American, African and Middle Eastern offices.* At these meetings, the JPO agreed with the respective partner countries to further fortify cooperation relationships in the future.

*Note:
The JPO held meetings with representatives of the following offices:

• European and North American offices: the United States, Canada, Australia, the United Kingdom, Denmark, the European Patent Office (EPO), the European Union Intellectual Property Office (EUIPO), and B+ Sub-Group meeting etc;
• Asian offices: China, Viet Nam, Indonesia and ASEAN economies (multilateral meeting);
• Latin American offices: Brazil, Mexico and Peru;
• African offices: The African Regional Intellectual Property Organization (ARIPO), the Organisation Africaine de la Propriete Intellectuelle (OAPI) and South Africa;
• Middle Eastern office: Saudi Arabia; and
• Others: WIPO (senior officials).

Division in Charge

International Policy Division & International Cooperation Division, Policy Planning and Coordination Department, JPO