Summary: A 5-year-old vision of a world where patent lawsuits can be filed globally and the rules on patents not prescribed based on domestic interests

The United States and Japan are the primary two countries that foster software patents, with perhaps a few more on the verge, e.g. Korea (see this recent trade agreement).

The following Cablegate cable states that "JIPA's goal is to improve the quality of patent examination in China as the Chinese government rapidly increases the number of patent examiners to correspond to the increased number of patent applications filed in China."

It also alludes to the EU Patent when it says that "JIPA strongly supports the Trilateral Initiative -- which he referred to as a "Global Patent System" -- of the Japan Patent Office (JPO), US Patent Office (USPTO) and the EU Patent Office (EUPO) to establish a system of sharing examination results so that a patent applicant could use the examination results from one patent office to petition for expedited processing in another office. He noted that similar discussions were taking place within WIPO but were going nowhere because of the huge differences in approach and capabilities."

This cable from 2006 is added below in its entirety.

VZCZCXRO4870
PP RUEHFK RUEHKSO RUEHNH
DE RUEHKO #0617/01 0340831
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 030831Z FEB 06
FM AMEMBASSY TOKYO
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 8244
INFO RUCPDOC/DEPT OF COMMERCE WASHINGTON DC PRIORITY
RUEHBJ/AMEMBASSY BEIJING 0390
RUEHGV/USMISSION GENEVA 2747
RUEHKSO/AMCONSUL SAPPORO 5615
RUEHOK/AMCONSUL OSAKA KOBE 7468
RUEHFK/AMCONSUL FUKUOKA 4409
RUEHNH/AMCONSUL NAHA 7056
RUESLE/AMCONSUL SHANGHAI 1972
RUEHGZ/AMCONSUL GUANGZHOU 1179





UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 TOKYO 000617 




SIPDIS 




SIPDIS 




STATE for EAP/J, EAP/EP, EB/TPP/MTA/IP 
USDOC for DAS HLevine 




E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: KIPR [Intellectual Property Rights], ECON [Economic Conditions], ETRD [Foreign Trade], JP 
SUBJECT: JAPANESE IPR ASSOCIATION FOCUSSED ON CHINA AND 
PATENTS 




ۦ1.  SUMMARY:  The Japan Intellectual Property Association 
(JIPA) is concentrating its international efforts on: 1) 
combating Chinese counterfeits of Japanese products and 
2) promoting an international mutual recognition system 
for patent searches, according to Secretary-General Hideo 
Doi in a recent meeting with EconOff.  In China JIPA is 
running several training programs aimed at Chinese 
Customs, Trademark, and Patent officials, and is 
compiling a database of people convicted of IPR crimes in 
China for the use of the Chinese government. 
End Summary 




ۦ2.  BACKGROUND: The Japan Intellectual Property 
Association (JIPA) considers itself the world's largest 
IPR industry organization with over a thousand members 
representing large and medium chemical, electronics, and 
manufacturing firms in Japan.  Among its international 
outreach programs, JIPA offers training in China, Taiwan, 
Thailand, and Korea.  The current JIPA president Naoto 
Kuji comes from Honda, (which has been concerned about 
counterfeit auto parts in China) and will be replaced 
this year by Kazuo Kamisugi of Wako Chemicals, a chemical 
and pharmaceutical manufacturer. 




JIPA Activities in China 




ۦ3.  JIPA has shifted its strategy in China to what Doi 
called a carrot and stick approach because it realized 
that just demanding that China improve its IPR 
environment was counter-productive.  Therefore, JIPA, 
working closely with the Japanese government (MOFA, METI, 
JETRO),  has developed a broad program to work with 
Chinese officials to improve IPR enforcement including: 




(a)  Training Customs Officials to distinguish between 
authentic and fake goods.  JIPA also helped compile a how- 
to manual for the training. 




(b)  Training Trademark Bureau officials on how to combat 
trademark infringements.  In early 2006, JIPA also plans 
a study session with the Trademark Bureau to address the 
issue of unclear standards for determining trademark 
infringements.  (Doi explained that Chinese manufacturers 
are producing numerous fakes using look-alike or sound- 
alike brands, e.g. Hongda, instead of Honda.) 




(c)  Training Chinese Patent Office examiners to improve 
their skills and knowledge.  JIPA provided technical 
training on patents for advanced technology in both 
automobiles and electronics in 2005.  JIPA's goal is to 
improve the quality of patent examination in China as the 
Chinese government rapidly increases the number of patent 
examiners to correspond to the increased number of patent 
applications filed in China. 




(d)  Compiling a database of names of people who have 
been convicted of IPR crimes by various security agencies 
in China.  Doi observed that IPR criminals tend to repeat 
their crimes, so JIPA decided to provide the Chinese 
government with a comprehensive database that could be 
shared by different Chinese government agencies. 




Japanese firms concerns 




ۦ4.  Japanese firms in China have been most concerned with 
counterfeiting of industrial products such as automobile 
parts, home electronics/appliances, and industrial 
equipment.  Doi also noted that a couple of years ago 
most Japanese companies did not think it was worth the 
expense to file a law suit for IPR infringement because 
of the ineffectiveness of the Chinese courts, but that 
now more Japanese companies are willing to file suits and 
go to court. 




ۦ5.  Doi added that JIPA and its members have been working 
closely with the US Embassy and the American Chamber of 
Commerce in Beijing because their concerns and approaches 
are very similar. 




Rooting for a "Global Patent System" 




TOKYO 00000617  002 OF 002 




ۦ6.  JIPA strongly supports the Trilateral Initiative -- 
which he referred to as a "Global Patent System" -- of 
the Japan Patent Office (JPO), US Patent Office (USPTO) 
and the EU Patent Office (EUPO) to establish a system of 
sharing examination results so that a patent applicant 
could use the examination results from one patent office 
to petition for expedited processing in another office. 
He noted that similar discussions were taking place 
within WIPO but were going nowhere because of the huge 
differences in approach and capabilities. 




SCHIEFFER

It is this kind of patent globalisation that can further suppress the 5 billion or so people who are already denied access to crucial knowledge. ⬆