세계 5대 특허청, 인공지능 등 신기술에 공동 대응키로

On Thursday, June 2, the 9th Heads of the World's Top 5 Patent Offices (IP5) Meeting was held in Tokyo. At this meeting, a "Joint Statement" was adopted, declaring that the offices will seek IP5-level cooperation measures to effectively respond to the latest technologies such as AI (artificial intelligence) and the Internet of Things (IoT).

Photo caption: The chief representatives of each office posing before the start of the IP5 Heads Meeting. From left: Francis Gurry, Director General of WIPO (World Intellectual Property Organization); Benoit Battistelli, President of EPO (European Patent Office); Choi Dong-kyu, Commissioner of KIPO (Korean IP Office); Ito Hitoshi, Commissioner of JPO (Japan Patent Office); Michelle K. Lee, Director of USPTO (United States Patent and Trademark Office); He Zhemin, Deputy Commissioner of SIPO (State Intellectual Property Office of China)

This statement significantly expands the horizon of the existing cooperation framework. It reflects the five offices' decision to cooperate not only in their existing joint efforts to clear examination backlogs and improve quality, but also to prepare for and make use of the environmental changes that advanced technologies may bring about.

Photo caption: A commemorative photo taken after the Heads Meeting. From left: Benoit Battistelli, President of EPO (European Patent Office); Choi Dong-kyu, Commissioner of KIPO (Korean IP Office); Ito Hitoshi, Commissioner of JPO (Japan Patent Office); Michelle K. Lee, Director of USPTO (United States Patent and Trademark Office); He Zhemin, Deputy Commissioner of SIPO (State Intellectual Property Office of China)

At the IP5 Heads Meeting, the five offices also agreed on a pilot project to jointly examine international applications filed under the Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT). Under this arrangement, all five major patent offices will participate in the prior art search work that has typically been handled by a single agency. After implementing the pilot project, they plan to evaluate its outcomes and issues and decide whether to expand it into a full-fledged project. As the world's top 5 patent offices will jointly investigate whether a patent right can be obtained, predictability in companies' IP strategy planning is expected to increase significantly.

We hope that by having the world's top 5 patent offices jointly respond to newly emerging technologies such as AI (artificial intelligence), they will actively support corporate innovation.

* IP5 (Intellectual Property 5): refers to the five patent offices of Korea, the United States, China, Europe, and Japan, which together account for about 80% or more of patent applications worldwide; this cooperation framework was launched in 2007.

[Source] World's Top 5 Patent Offices to Jointly Respond to New Technologies Such as AI|Author kipoworld2