table of contents
January issue [General] Newsletter
New Year Greetings
Happy New Year.
Last year was a year in which we were preoccupied with Russia's invasion of Ukraine, North Korea's entry into the war, Israel's intensified attacks on Palestine and the Gaza Strip, Iran's counterattack, the overthrow of the Syrian government, and many other events, and the smell of the prelude to World War III began to spread.
However, according to the theory that Japan's national fortunes follow a 40-year cycle, 2025 will be a memorable year that marks a turning point when Japan's fortunes will turn from a downward trend to an upward trend. I am looking forward to what will happen to turn Japan's fortunes for the better.
On the other hand, at our firm, despite the fact that last year was a difficult time with the global economy in turmoil, we are proud to say that it was a year in which all of our staff seriously reexamined their work in a harsh economic environment and broke out of their shells in one fell swoop.
This year too, we will continue to express our deep gratitude for the continued support of our customers, and we hope to continue providing the highest quality services by focusing on high expertise, high quality, permanence, stability, international responsiveness, and speed, thereby pursuing the provision of maximum satisfaction and profits to all our customers.
We would like to express our sincere gratitude for your patronage last year and hope to receive your continued support this year.
Chairman: Kenzo Hara
—–
We would like to congratulate you all on the arrival of a bright and prosperous New Year.
Last year felt like a year of particularly strong uncertainty about the future of domestic and international situations. Despite such circumstances, our office was able to remain vibrant throughout the year thanks to all of you, and we would like to take this opportunity to express our sincere gratitude.
This year marks the 80th anniversary of the end of World War II. Wars and conflicts occurring around the world are only getting more serious, but I sincerely hope that this milestone year will be an opportunity for all of us to move towards peace.
This year will be another year in which the outlook is uncertain, but with technological innovations and everything else changing at an even greater pace, I believe there are hidden possibilities for a bright future everywhere. I would like to identify these possibilities and work with our clients to make great strides toward further development.
Thank you for your kind support in the year.
Director Kiyoshi Fukui
Japan Patent Office Digital Strategy 202X
The Japan Patent Office has formulated the "Japan Patent Office Digital Strategy 202X." According to the Japan Patent Office, it is essential to respond swiftly and flexibly to the need for digital utilization and intensifying competition against the backdrop of rapid advances in digital technology, and to realize a more advanced and smart digital environment. To that end, the Japan Patent Office has formulated the "Japan Patent Office Digital Strategy 202X" with the aim of boldly transforming the Japan Patent Office's system for handling intellectual property rights procedures and leading the world in intellectual property through the use of digital technology.
The "Japan Patent Office Digital Strategy 202X" lists three items: "The future vision we should aim for," "Transformation of the Japan Patent Office," and "Action Plan," and includes specific policies for each.
The "Aiming for the Future" sets out "An Advanced and Smart Digital Environment: Four Goals," with specific targets for each. In the "Transformation of the Patent Office," system transformation and transition to a new organization are listed as "Toward the Realization of the Four Goals," and "Five Key Concepts" are explained. The "Action Plan" also outlines a plan for what functions will be added to the system between 202X and 203X in order to achieve the "Goals" while adhering to the "Key Concepts."
If you are interested in system transformation, I recommend you read this.
For details, please see the Japan Patent Office website below.
https://www.jpo.go.jp/system/laws/sesaku/gyomu/jpo_digital_202x.html
Recent Trends in Business-Related Inventions
The Japan Patent Office has updated its "Recent Trends in Business-Related Inventions." According to this, in terms of overall application and examination trends, the number of domestic patent applications for business-related inventions has been on the decline since the application boom in 2000, but has been increasing since around 2012, with 13,411 applications filed in 2022. The background to this is that, as the industrial structure is changing from "things" to "events," research and development assuming solution businesses is becoming more active, and in addition to the spread of smartphones and SNS, the advancement of AI and IoT technologies has led to the expansion of fields (such as the financial sector) in which new services using ICT are created. In addition, the patent allowance rate, which was initially low, has been increasing year by year, and in recent years has remained at the 70% level, which is the same as the patent allowance rate for the entire technical field.
In terms of application trends by field, among the changes in the number of applications for business-related inventions by field, the following three fields ranked first among business-related inventions applied for in 2021.
(1) G06Q50/ and G06Q90/, 99/, excluding specific fields
(General service industry (accommodation, food and beverage, real estate, transportation, communications, etc.))
(2) G06Q10/
(Management and business operations (internal business systems, production management, inventory management, project management, personnel allocation, etc.))
(3) G06Q30/
(EC/Marketing (electronic commerce, auctions, market forecasts, online advertising, etc.))
Other areas analyzed include areas where applications are increasing, areas showing high growth rates, and increases in applications in the primary and secondary industries.
The report also mentions the number of applications for AI-related inventions among business-related inventions, and introduces the fact that in recent years, there has been an increase in the use of generated AI such as ChatGPT for business purposes.
For details, please see the Japan Patent Office website below.
https://www.jpo.go.jp/system/patent/gaiyo/sesaku/biz_pat.html
Newsletter translated into English
New Year's greetings
I would like to wish you a very happy New Year.
This past year saw the continuation and outbreak of many conflicts worldwide, including the ongoing Russian invasion of Ukraine, the participation of North Korea in that war, the intensification of the Israeli assault on Palestine/Gaza, the counterattack by Iran, the toppling of the government in Syria and so on. It was a year full of events that felt like they might be preliminary skirmishes in advance of a third World War.
However, according to the theory of the 40-year cycle of Japanese national fortune, 2025 will be a significant year marking a turning point in which the decline in Japan's national fortune will be reversed. I look forward to seeing what the instigating event will be that will lead to this upturn in fortune.
Meanwhile, regardless of the current period of global economic upheaval and the many challenges it presents, at our firm we have redoubled our efforts to strive diligently in the harsh economic environment, and can take pride in a year in which our staff as a whole were able to quickly adapt and overcome previous restrictions.
In the coming year, we will bear in mind daily our deep appreciation and gratitude for our clients, continue to pursue a high degree of specialization, high quality standards, persistence, stability, international response capability, speediness and so on, and strive to provide a superior service and the utmost satisfaction and benefit for our clients.
I would like to express my sincere gratitude for your patronage in 2024, and look forward to continuing to provide you with our services in the coming year.
Thank you very much for your ongoing support.
Kenzo Hara
Executive Chairman
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I would like to wish you all a very happy New Year.
2024 was a year of particularly strong uncertainty regarding the future state of affairs in Japan and abroad. However, against this backdrop our firm remained highly active throughout the year, thanks to your continued support. I would like to take this opportunity to express my heartfelt gratitude.
This year marks the 80th anniversary of the end of the Second World War. Although we are living in a time when wars and conflicts breaking out around the world are worsening in severity, we must continue to hope that this milestone year will be a turning point toward peace.
This year, it is once again not easy to predict what lies in store, but with all kinds of major changes taking place with seemingly increasing speed, including the introduction of many technological innovations, there is a much hidden potential for a bright future. Focusing on this potential, we will continue to advance together with our clients toward greater development and progress.
I wish you all the best for the coming year, and would like to thank you again for your ongoing support.
Fukui Kiyoshi
CEO
JPO Digital Strategy 202X
The Japan Patent Office (JPO) has formulated the 'JPO Digital Strategy 202X'. According to the JPO, it is essential to realize a more advanced and smarter digital environment by responding swiftly and flexibly to the need for digital utilization and intensifying competition against the backdrop of the rapid development of digital technology. The JPO has formulated the “JPO Digital Strategy 202X” with the aim of leading the world in intellectual property through the use of digital technology, by boldly transforming the JPO's systems for carrying out intellectual property procedures.
The “JPO Digital Strategy 202X,” presents three sections, “Future Vision,” “Transformation of the JPO,” and “Action Plan,” with specific policies listed for each.
In the “Future Vision” section, four specific goals for an “advanced and smart digital environment” are listed. In the “Transformation of the JPO” section, system transformation and transition to new organizational structure are listed as methods of realizing the four goals , along with explanations of five “key concepts”. The “Action Plan” outlines a plan for what functions will be added to the system between 202X and 203X in order to realize the stated goals while adhering to the key concepts.
Those interested in the functional transformation of the system are encouraged to read the report.
For more information, please see the JPO website:
https://www.jpo.go.jp/system/laws/sesaku/gyomu/jpo_digital_202x.html
Recent Trends in Business-Related Inventions
The JPO has updated its report entitled “Recent Trends in Business-Related Inventions”. According to the report, in terms of overall application and examination trends, the number of patent applications for business-related inventions in Japan had declined since the application boom that occurred in 2000, but began to increase again around 2012, with 13,411 applications filed in 2022. This is partially due to the fact that, as the industrial structure is changing from providing “things” to providing “services,” research and development for solution businesses is becoming more active, and that, in addition to the spread of smartphones and social networks, fields that are establishing new services utilizing ICT (such as the financial field) are expanding due to the progress of AI and IoT technologies. The patent approval rate, which was initially low, has been increasing year by year, and in recent years has been in the 70% range, which is the same level as the overall patent approval rate across all technology fields .
In terms of application trends by field, the following three fields account for the most business-related inventions filed in 2021.
(1) G06Q50/ and G06Q90/, 99/ (excluding specific fields)
(Service industry in general – accommodation, catering, real estate, transportation, communication, etc.)
(2) G06Q10/
(Administration and management – internal business systems, production control, inventory control, project management, personnel allocation, etc.)
(3) G06Q30/
(E-commerce and marketing – e-commerce, auctions, market forecasting, online advertising, etc.)
In addition, fields in which applications are increasing, in which fields there is a high growth rate, and the increase in applications in fields belonging to the primary and secondary industry sectors are analyzed in the report.
The report also makes mention of the number of applications for AI-related inventions among business-related inventions, and examines the increasing use of generative AI such as ChatGPT in business in recent years.
For more information, please see the JPO website:
https://www.jpo.go.jp/e/system/patent/gaiyo/recent_trends_biz_inv.html