Cablegate: Japan-Germany to Expand Ipr Cooperation

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RR RUEHAG RUEHCHI RUEHDF RUEHFK RUEHHM RUEHIK RUEHKSO RUEHLZ RUEHNAG
RUEHPB RUEHROV
DE RUEHKO #5038 3030111
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 300111Z OCT 07
FM AMEMBASSY TOKYO
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 9039
INFO RUEHFK/AMCONSUL FUKUOKA 4049
RUEHNAG/AMCONSUL NAGOYA 2896
RUEHNH/AMCONSUL NAHA 6459
RUEHOK/AMCONSUL OSAKA KOBE 7714
RUEHKSO/AMCONSUL SAPPORO 4736
RUEHUL/AMEMBASSY SEOUL 5852
RUFHMZ/AMCONSUL MUNICH 0043
RUCNMEM/EU MEMBER STATES COLLECTIVE
RUEHZU/APEC COLLECTIVE

UNCLAS TOKYO 005038

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E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: ECON ETRD KIPR JA GE
SUBJECT: Japan-Germany to Expand IPR Cooperation

1. (U) On October 19 Japan announced a pilot program with Germany
under the Patent Prosecution Highway (PPH). The program, which
will start in March 2008, extends to four the number of countries
with which Japan has such agreements. The other countries
already piloting PPH agreements with Japan are the U.S., Korea,
and the UK.

2. (U) The purpose of the Patent Prosecution Highway is to
facilitate an applicant's acquisition of a patent in multiple key
markets. The program allows information sharing between patent
offices that will reduce paperwork and filing costs for
applicants. It also seeks to reduce the administrative load on
patent offices and enhance the quality of patent examinations.

3. (U) Under the PPH, an applicant may request that a patentable
claim filed in one office undergo accelerated examination in
other participating offices as well. For eligible second filings,
based on documentation and examination in the first filing,
requirements could be reduced to as little as one document.
Further, the Japan Patent Office estimates that accelerated
examinations under PPH, on average, will take only 2-3 months
from filing to final approval. This period is significantly
shorter than the current average of 26 months from request for
examination to final approval for first filings.

4. (U) In 2006, Japanese filed 3618 applications with the German
Patent Office, more than from any other country after the Germans
themselves. The number of Japanese applications was just ahead
of Americans at 3283. These numbers, however, are lower than the
numbers of patent applications filed with the European Patent
Office. The number of applications filed from Germany to Japan
was 7980, the second largest number of foreign applications after
filings from the US.
SCHIEFFER

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