JPO-EPO Examiner Exchange Program Held Online

March 11 2022

From January 20 to February 17, 2022, the Japan Patent Office (JPO) and the European Patent Office (EPO) held this year’s *Examiner Exchange Program.

For more than 20 years, the JPO and the EPO have implemented the program by dispatching their respective patent examiners to each other's Offices, and this time held it online with the participation of four JPO examiners and seven EPO examiners, introducing several intervals of one to two weeks. This allowed the examiners from both Offices to efficiently sort out issues and prepare answers to the questions raised in the session, resulting in more meaningful discussions.

The participants exchanged information on prior art search methods and systems and the application of examination standards in two technical fields (autonomous driving vehicles, glass and ceramics), deepening the understanding of each other’s examination practices.

The JPO will continue to cooperate on patent examination with the IP Offices of other countries.

Link to Examiner Exchange Program page in JPO Status Report 2022（PDF：4,693KB）

*The Examiner Exchange Program is designed to foster a relationship of trust and deepen mutual understanding between the examiners of the JPO and overseas IP Offices through discussions on each other's prior art search methods and examination practices, and to promote mutual use of prior art search results and examination results.

[Last updated 11 March 2022]