New Year Greetings from the JPO Commissioner Koichi HAMANO

On January 4, 2023, Koichi Hamano, the JPO Commissioner, issued New Year Greetings. The full message may be found here.

In the message, Mr. Hamano summarizes that from January through September 2022, the number of applications for patents and trademarks declined by 0.3% and 6.3% respectively, while the number of applications for designs increased by 0.4% compared to the same period in 2021. 

Additionally, the JPO has implemented the Patent Prosecution Highway (PPH) with the largest number of IP offices in the world (44 as of November 2022).  Mr. Hamano thinks that the use of PPH will support the international application strategies of JPO users through examination results.

Further, the JPO considers that it is necessary to review the IP system in light of the development of new businesses which utilize intellectual property on the part of small and medium-sized enterprises, startups, etc., as well as large enterprises.  As outreach, the JPO has resumed organizing local seminars and providing face-to-face trainings in and out of Japan for IP Offices in emerging and developing countries.  For a working environment, the JPO has staff working in four different locations currently but plans to enable all staff to work in one main office building following refurbishment.