Trilateral Cooperation (JPO-EPO-USPTO)

What is the “Trilateral Offices”?

The framework of Trilateral Offices is an important cooperative framework, which has been in existence since 1983, consisting of the mature three patent offices: the Japan Patent Office (JPO), the European Patent Office (EPO), the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO). The Trilateral Offices Meeting is a forum for policy discussions, whereas the IP5 Offices Meeting is a forum for practical discussions. It is expected that the Trilateral Offices, with their high level of patent examination capacity & capability, global influence, long history and trustworthy maturity, and the characteristics of a small group, will have a think-tank function, using the discussions in the Trilateral Offices as a basis to expand to other fora.

Meetings with Trilateral Industry (IT3)

The Trilateral Offices hold high-level meetings almost every year with the Trilateral Industry (IT3): the Japan Intellectual Property Association (JIPA), the American Intellectual Property Law Association (AIPLA), the Intellectual Property Owners Association (IPO) and BusinessEurope (BE) to exchange views.

Trilateral Offices Website