4th Review meeting conducted of Cooperation on Industrial Property

The Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade, Ministry of Commerce and Industry and the Japan Patent Office, Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry of Japan conducted the 4th Review meeting under Memorandum of Cooperation on Industrial Property on a virtual platform on 12th March 2021. The first phase of the meeting was held by Dr. Guruprasad Mohapatra, Secretary, DPIIT & Mr. Toshihide Kasutani, Commissioner, JPO wherein first year of the pilot Patent Prosecution Highway program was reviewed and both sides agreed to recognise each other’s Offices to act mutually as competent ISA/IPEA. The second phase of the meeting was co-chaired by Shri Ravinder, Joint Secretary, DPIIT and Mr. Toshihide Kasutani. The Ministries checked the progress under the Memorandum of Cooperation on industrial property between India and Japan and the Action Plan between the Controller General of Patents, Designs and Trademarks of India and the JPO based on the MoC, and confirmed the views to further deepen the cooperative relationship between both the Offices for the future cooperation. At the meeting, the Ministries reconfirmed, amidst the challenging times of the corona virus pandemic, the importance of innovations that help our society and the essence of a robust Industrial Property system for promoting investment and innovation. The Ministries acknowledged the importance of strengthening IP enforcement, enhancing capacity building, raising IP awareness and motivating innovation to promote their goals. The DPIIT expressed its appreciation to the JPO for its cooperation in conducting training programs to welcome trainees from India since the last meeting and the JPO agreed to continue conducting the invitational training programs for Indian stakeholders. Recognising the importance of industrial designs as industrial property, the Ministries agreed to continue cooperation in industrial design education. Both sides agreed to commence the function of Offices acting mutually as competent ISA / IPEA under the PCT, from July 1st, 2021. The Ministries also agreed to hold a meeting of experts, as needed, for smooth and appropriate operation. They decided to hold a meeting at least one time in a year of experts to talk about the functioning of the Japan-India Patent Prosecution Highway (PPH) pilot program. They agreed to continue holding an Information Exchange Program of patent experts from the Offices to further enhance mutual understanding of the patent examination practices.They also agreed to hold the IT Experts Meeting once a year between the Offices to share information and experiences on initiatives regarding development of IT infrastructure.