On July 8, 2026, Mr. Ito, Leader of the International Collaboration Working Group, and Mr. Ikeshima, a member of the Working Group, participated in the meeting between the Group B+ Plenary Meeting (B+ Meeting) and user associations, held at the Hotel President Wilson in Geneva.
The meeting featured reports from both the B+ patent offices and user associations on two key topics: Client-Attorney Privilege (CAP) and Substantive Patent Law Harmonization (SPLH), followed by active and constructive exchanges of views.
Regarding CAP, IP Australia, which has taken over the leading role from the Swiss Federal Institute of Intellectual Property, reported the outcomes of two rounds of stakeholder consultations on the draft agreement. One of the main issues discussed was whether the agreement should be legally binding. On the user side, the International Association for the Protection of Intellectual Property (AIPPI) reviewed more than 20 years of efforts toward international harmonization and explained its strategy of promoting a Model Law (soft-law) approach as a complementary step toward achieving a binding international treaty, with the aim of obtaining approval of the Model Law at the AIPPI World Congress in Hamburg this October.
On SPLH, the Korea Intellectual Property Association (KINPA) presented three key issues from the perspective of enhancing legal predictability: prior user rights, the grace period, and conflicting applications. The U.S. user associations (IPO and AIPLA) introduced a practical harmonization proposal consisting of “Seven Pieces.” In addition, a voluntary working group led by the UK Intellectual Property Office presented the results of its survey, based on questionnaires and stakeholder meetings, on the establishment and scope of prior user rights. JIPA commented that the stakeholder meeting held in February had been valuable in promoting a better understanding of diverse perspectives and reaffirmed its commitment to actively contributing to future discussions within the B+ framework.
In addition to the formal meeting, JIPA also held bilateral discussions with user associations from the United States, Europe, and other jurisdictions before and after the meeting to exchange views on the key SPLH issues and future directions. Taking into account the forthcoming B+ report and continued discussions with the relevant organizations, JIPA will further advance its consideration of patent law harmonization together with the Industry Trilateral (IT3).
