Expert Committee

FY2016 Expert Committees Research Themes

The First Patent Committee

  • Research and study on harmonization of patent systems
  • Study on description requirements
  • Study on inventive steps
  • Discussion on systems related to patent applications
  • Research and study on problems related to the examination process

The Second Patent Committee

  • Study on the situation of the interpretation of support requirements by the courts
  • Analysis of grounds for reversing presumption
  • Analysis of trends related to motivation as a factor for determining inventive steps, and commonality in terms of the problem to be solved
  • Analysis of court decisions related to the clarity requirement

mid- to long term Themes

  • Discussion on the award system
  • Discussion on the system for requesting an advisory opinion on the technical scope of a patented invention

The First International Affairs Committee

  • Ad hoc training on how to use rights: Explanation of the Manual on Infringement Litigation (5th edition)
  • Acquisition of rights: Discussion on effectiveness of possible measures to be taken after receiving the final OA
  • US patent practice: Field survey and study on the information disclosure requirement and information disclosure statement (IDS)
  • Case study: Analysis of court decisions related to "teaching away" under Section 103
Strategy study: Study on the relationship between collaboration strategy and patent portfolio in the United States

The Second International Affairs Committee

  • Research and study on IP-related systems in Europe
  • Research and study at the Visegrad Group (V4) (mid to long-term theme)
  • Discussion on international research

The Third International Affairs Committee

  • Research and study on acquisition of rights
  • Research and study on enforcement of rights and litigation; research and study on the Republic of Korea and Taiwan
  • Research and study on the IP strategy of China

The Forth International Affairs Committee

  • Research and study on effective IP strategy in ASEAN countries and India based on the actual use of rights
  • Research and study on points of note in handling and management of inventions and know-how created locally
  • Research and study on points of notes in assessing and retaining local firms and search agencies

Medicinal and Biotechnology Committee

  • Discussion on IP strategy related to the latest medical-related technology (regenerative medicine)
  • Features and issues of licensing agreements in the fields of pharmaceuticals and biotechnology

Mid and long-term themes

  • Research and study on important appeal/trial cases
  • Response to public comments
  • Response to the 24-25th sessions of WIPO-SCP
  • WIPO PJ: Forest WG's study on the Convention on Biological Diversity (including response to WIPO-IGC)

Software Committee

  • Research and study on protection of software-related intellectual property in various countries (Japan, the US, Europe, China and other Asian countries)
  • Research and study on open/closed strategy related to software (use of IP rights, patent filing strategy)
  • Research and study on standardization of software (including open sources)
  • IP strategy for IT solutions/services by type of business

Copyright Committee

Innovation Team

  • Research on legal protection for creation by AI
  • Research on trends in copyright laws
  • Research and study on the amendment to the Copyright Act (in relation to TPP)

In-house Education Team

  • Analysis of the results of the questionnaire concerning in-house education
  • Discussion on desirable in-house education
  • Discussion and creation of in-house education contents that companies can use or desire to use
  • Review of the training program, "Copyright" (Course A; FY2017 Edition)
  • Discussion on training materials on intellectual property cases available for in-house education (and helpful for business)

Contents Team

  • Research and study on character licensing
  • Research and study on the platform for n-th creation and user-generated contents (UGC)

The First Management Committee

  • Study on global-scale management of trade secrets
  • Study on points of note in the review of the employee invention system
  • Study on IP management directly connected with the use of rights

The Second Management Committee

  • Study on the impact of changes caused by IoT, BD and AI on the IP system and activities
  • Study on IP experts desired for the future and development thereof
  • Study on IP budgets taking account of bases for global activities

Information System Committee

  • Electronic distribution of global IP information and management system thereof with the use of open data
  • In-house information systems—based on big data analysis—
  • Research and study on system development for IP budget management

Information Search Committee

  • Study on how to use CPC
  • Study on IP information of emerging countries
  • Research on new search methods
  • Study on IP trading and licensing strategy
  • Study on information concerning IP-related trials/litigation
  • Analysis of IP mix strategy
  • Analysis of companies' strategies for filing applications for IP rights

The First License Committee

  • Research and study on nondisclosure agreements in English
  • Comparative discussion on licensing frameworks by type of business and research and study on points of note in licensing practice (exclusive license~comprehensive cross license)
  • Research and study on the impact of judicial systems in various countries on resolution of intellectual property disputes

The Second License Committee

  • Schemes for the use of intellectual property through alliances
  • Points of note in concluding technology agreements with Chinese companies
  • Methods for assessment of the value of patents based on court decisions concerning the calculation of the value for patents

Design Committee

  • Research and study on the ideas concerning the use and infringement of designs in Japan and other countries (Europe, the US, China, and the Republic of Korea)
  • Study on the use of design rights as part of the IP mix strategy in view of overseas business enhancement
  • Other mid to long-term themes: Study on recent design dispute cases; research and study on international harmonization of design systems and procedures

Trademark Committee

  • Research and study on improvement of trademark management practice
  • Research and study on the examination process under the new trademark system
  • Study on methods for coordinating name development from the perspective of brands and trademarks
  • Study on methods for using nontraditional trademarks as brands
  • Acquisition and enforcement of rights for trademarks consisting of one or two alphabetical letters
  • Preparedness required from personnel in charge of trademarks to respond to Internet issues

Fair Trade Committee

Research and study on legal systems for protection of trade secrets and guidelines for management of trade secrets
  • Determination of gross negligence under Article 2(1)(viii) of the Unfair Competition Prevention Act
  • Manual on initial response to leakage of trade secrets
  • Discussion on measures to prevent leakage of trade secrets needed when launching business in emerging countries
Research and study on the use of IP rights and the competition law

Human Resource Development Committee

  • Review and reform of global training (W Course)
  • Enhancement and stable operation of special training (T Course) and engineer training (G Course)
  • Planning of new timely training courses in line with the needs of member companies
  • Operation of new overseas training courses, restructuring of F Course, and discussion on training courses for the next fiscal year

Publication and Public Affairs Committee

  • General articles, basic Q&A
  • Court precedents and practices
  • Special issue (2017 April issue), overseas noteworthy court judgments, email newsletters

Strategic Planning Committee

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