International Activities

Fair Trade Committee: Sending Study Group to Vietnam, Malaysia and Indonesia

  • MyIPO
  • DGIP
 JIPA Fair Trade Committee sent a 4-member study group led by Mr. Okita, Chairperson, to Vietnam, Malaysia, and Indonesia from November 5 to 10, 2017.
 Focusing on the ASEAN countries where Japanese companies are actively doing business, the Fair Trade Committee engages in research and study on legal systems and practices regarding protection of trade secrets in those countries.
 Last year, the Committee conducted a study in Singapore, where information on ASEAN countries accumulates, and Thailand, where the trade secret law was amended, and this year the study covered Vietnam, Malaysia, and Indonesia, which are rapidly growing.
 In Vietnam, the study group visited a local law firm to study and discuss trade secret infringement cases and practical measures to prevent leakage of trade secrets. The group also visited local companies to study and exchange opinions on the actual situation of mobility of employees and countermeasures against the mobility, practical management of trade secret information, etc.
 In Malaysia, the study group visited the Intellectual Property Corporation of Malaysia (MyIPO) to discuss, for example, protection of trade secrets, judicial precedents, and legal systems for protecting trade secret information under common law. The group also visited a local law firm to study and discuss trade secret infringement cases and practical measures to prevent leakage of trade secrets.
 After moving to Indonesia, the study group visited the Directorate General of Intellectual Property (DGIP) to study and discuss, for example, the operation and the procedure of the trade secret law and also visited several local law firms to study and discuss trade secret infringement cases and practical measures to prevent leakage of trade secrets.

 The study group learned that although Vietnam and Indonesia it visited this time has a law protecting trade secret, the application of the law and a public awareness and education campaign are gradually in progress. The group also found that in Malaysia, where trade secrets are protected by the common law, basic ideas of trade secrets are being established among practitioners with accumulation of judicial precedents, and a public awareness and education campaign is being gradually developed.

 The Fair Trade Committee will summarize the results and then transmit a detailed report to JIPA member companies.

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