JPO Provided DGIP with Face-to-Face Training Programs

March 14, 2023

The Japan Patent Office (JPO), in collaboration with the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), provided the Director General of Intellectual Property (DGIP) with face-to-face Examination Practice Training Programs for a total of seven days on February 20-24, 27-28, 2023.

In response to a request from the DGIP, the programs included training on examination practices in the fields of biotechnology and nanotechnology, as well as management training (human resource development, quality control, etc.).

Three JPO International Training Instructors of The Global Patent Academy (GPA) with extensive practical experience in patent examination and an expert from Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) served as instructors, and a total of 97 participants from the DGIP including DGIP patent examiners participated in the programs.

As for the February 20-24 training in the field of biotechnology, for the first time in three years, the International Training Instructors were dispatched to the DGIP to provide the face-to-face training.

Participants deepened their understanding of patent examination practices such as prior art searches and JPO's Multi-Factor Reasoning (MFR) criteria^*1 for an inventive step through discussions and assigned tasks. The participants commented that they had a definite feeling of gaining new knowledge and that it was easier to ask questions to the instructors about points they did not understand when they were face-to-face.

The JPO will continue to provide cooperation in patent examination practices to examiners in Indonesia and other emerging countries where further business expansion of Japan’s companies is expected, thereby supporting the development and strengthening of examination systems in those countries.

^*1 For further information on MFR, please visit the link below for the PDF material

Opening ceremony

Face-to-face training

Online training

References

• JPO/GPA Training
• “Multi-Factor Reasoning” in the Determination of Inventive Step (issued March 2022) (PDF:4,661KB)

[Last updated 14 March 2023]