February [General] Newsletter

G7 Intellectual Property Office Heads-of-Office Meeting Held

On Friday, December 7, 7, the G7 Heads of IP Office Conversation, bringing together the heads of intellectual property offices of G7 member countries, was held as an online conference.

The participants were Mr. Marzetti, Director of European and International Affairs at the Italian Patent and Trademark Office (UIBM), Mr. Joe Galas, President of the Canadian Intellectual Property Office (CIPO), Mr. Wicherd, DDG, German Federal Ministry of Justice (BMJ), Mr. Squires, President of the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO), Mr. Williams, President of the United Kingdom Intellectual Property Office (UKIPO), and Mr. Faure, President of the French National Institute of Industrial Property (INPI). Mr. Kawanishi, Commissioner of the Japan Patent Office (JPO), also attended the meeting.

At the meeting, discussions were held on modernizing intellectual property offices for a digital economy and supporting companies in utilizing intellectual property to promote economic growth.

Commissioner Kasai introduced the JPO's AI initiatives to the G7 IP offices as part of its efforts to modernize IP offices for the digital economy. He also introduced the Patent Prosecution Highway (PPH) and startup support initiatives to support the use of IP for economic growth, emphasizing the importance of an IP system that enables companies to create value through economic activities and encouraging companies to utilize IP.

USPTO Revises PTAB Appeal Practice Guide

The USPTO has published an update to its Trial Practice Guide for the Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB)'s (PTA) inter partes review (IPR) and post-grant review (PGR) procedures. The update requires pre-hearing conferences to be held before oral proceedings, and the main changes are as follows:

<Appeal Practice Guide Section II.M. (Oral Hearing)>
The PTAB will conduct a pre-trial conference, with mandatory participation of the parties, at least 15 days before the oral hearing.
The purpose of the pre-conference is to provide the PTAB with guidance in advance on issues that the parties may wish to discuss during oral proceedings, such as claim construction and objective grounds for non-obviousness.
Pre-conferences also have the significance of providing the parties with an opportunity to present in advance any issues they wish to raise at oral hearings.

The USPTO will conduct these pre-conferences for requests for which an institution decision has been issued by Director Squires under the PTAB's institution decision procedures, which will be amended in October 2025. However, the pre-conferences may also be conducted at the request of the parties in other cases. The USPTO will seek public comments and feedback regarding the usefulness of these pre-conferences.

The recent revision of the Appeal Practice Guide has included the deletion of relevant descriptions in response to the end of the provisional review system for business method inventions (Covered Business Method: CBM).

The USPTO also announced changes to its Director's review procedures for PTAB decisions. Based on a precedent ruling that a Director's review request cannot be dismissed for lack of jurisdiction due to a pending appeal at the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit (CAFC), the USPTO will defer a decision on the Director's review request until the CAFC decides whether to order the Director to conduct the Director's review.

EPO's efforts to improve patent quality

From December 2025, the EPO will introduce a new online form that will make it easier for third parties to submit comments on published patent applications. In addition, the expedited prosecution under the Programme for the Accelerated Examination of European Patent Applications (PACE) will be limited to the examination stage.

New online tool for third-party information submissions
From 15 December 2025, third parties will have access to a new online tool to submit comments on European patent applications and patents under opposition via MyEPO, other online services or the EPO's official website.
Comments may be accompanied by supporting evidence and may be submitted anonymously, although announcing your identity may expedite the review process.
All comments submitted will be considered by an Examining or Opposition Division and added to the public file in the European Patent Register. With this tool, the EPO expands the opportunities for public comment and believes it will play an important role in maintaining high patent quality.

Targeted Acceleration
From February 1, 2026, the EPO will limit its Programme for the Accelerated Examination of European Patent Applications (PACE) to the examination stage only, allowing it to focus its expertise on the stage where it can most significantly reduce the overall procedural time.
Since the EPO's search work is already completed within six months (or less), we believe that acceleration at this stage is no longer necessary.
The EPO also plans to streamline its response to user enquiries and further strengthen its overall support.

Survey on application status of business-related inventions

The Japan Patent Office (JPO) has published a report on its FY2025 Simplified Technology Trends Survey on "Business-Related Inventions." In recent years, the advancement of new technologies such as the Internet of Things (IoT) and artificial intelligence (AI), which are driving the Fourth Industrial Revolution, has led to increased attention being paid to the utilization of business-related inventions. Furthermore, since 2022, generative AI-related technologies and services have rapidly developed, leading to the widespread adoption of generative AI in a variety of fields, including business, education, healthcare, and government, significantly transforming business activities. This survey, conducted based on application data up to 2023, aims to clarify the status of business-related invention applications both domestically and internationally. A business-related invention is an invention in which a business method is realized using information and communication technology (ICT). In this survey, a business-related invention is defined as a patent application with an IPC or FI designated G06Q.

The downward trend following the boom in applications for "business-related inventions" that occurred in 2000 has begun to increase since around 2012, with the number of patent applications reaching 19,870 in 2023, exceeding the number during the boom in applications in 2000. The patent approval rate for "business-related inventions" applications filed in 2000 was 13%, but has since risen, reaching over 80% by 2023.

The following three fields are the most popular for business-related inventions filed in 3:
(1) General service industry (excluding specific fields (*))
(*) "Specific fields" include secondary industry, energy, primary industry, public services, and education.
(2) Management and Operation
(3) E-commerce and marketing

The above three fields have been on an upward trend since 2015, with a sharp increase in 2023. The field with the next largest number of applications after the top three is finance, which increased 2.7 times from 2015 to 2023, but did not see a significant increase in 2023. Additionally, the number of patent applications in education was below 100 until 2020, and remained at 112 as of 2022, but increased approximately six times in 2023 compared to the previous year.

Furthermore, "business-related inventions" have a high affinity with AI, and there are an increasing number of cases where AI is used to solve business problems. Since 2022, technologies using "generative AI" and "conversational AI" have rapidly spread, bringing about changes in operations in various business fields.

USPTO Establishes Working Group on Standard Essential Patents (SEPs)

The USPTO announced that it will establish a Working Group (WG) on Standard Essential Patents (SEPs) on December 29, 2025. The WG will be established as an organization reporting directly to USPTO Director Squires, and will be co-chaired by Nicholas Matic, Deputy General Counsel and General Counsel for Intellectual Property Law at the USPTO, and Austin Meiron, Senior Counsel for the USPTO.

According to the USPTO, the WG will have the following three main objectives:

1. Providing robust remedies for patent holders
Clarify that valid patent rights, including SEPs, are strong, predictable and enforceable.

2. Encouraging participation in the standardization process
We will consider mechanisms to enable participation by a wider range of stakeholders, including small and medium-sized U.S. businesses, in standardization bodies and organizations.

3. Improving collaboration and transparency in the innovation ecosystem
We will create a forum for patent holders, business entities, standardization organizations, and other stakeholders to share and resolve the issues they face, and will support the improvement of transparency in SEP licensing negotiations and the standardization process.

The USPTO and the Department of Justice jointly submitted position statements to the Federal District Court (Eastern District of Texas) in June 2025 and to the International Trade Commission (ITC) in November of the same year regarding the importance of granting preliminary injunctions and exclusion orders based on patent rights. The USPTO explained that the establishment of the WG on SEPs shares the same philosophy that strong remedies should be provided for valid patent rights.

Newsletter translated into English

G7 Heads of IP Office Conversation

On Friday, December 12, 2025, the G7 Heads of IP Offices Conversation, a gathering of the heads of the intellectual property offices of the G7 member countries (hereinafter, the G7 IP Offices), was held in an online meeting format.

The attendees of the meeting were as follows: Ms. Marzetti, Head of European and International Affairs at the Italian Patent and Trademark Office (UIBM); Mr. Georgaras, Chief Executive Officer of the Canadian Intellectual Property Office (CIPO); Mr. Wichard, Deputy Director General at the German Federal Ministry of Justice (BMJ); Mr. Squires, Director of the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO); Mr. Williams, Chief Executive of the Intellectual Property Office of the United Kingdom (UKIPO); Mr. Faure, Director General of the French National Institute of Industrial Property (INPI); and Mr. Kasai, Commissioner at the Japan Patent Office (JPO).

During the meeting, the participants discussed the modernization of IP offices for the digital economy and support for companies in utilizing intellectual property to drive economic growth.

Commissioner Kasai introduced the JPO's AI-related initiatives to the G7 IP Offices in the context of modernizing IP offices for the digital economy. Furthermore, with respect to supporting the use of intellectual property for economic growth, he introduced the JPO's initiatives on the Patent Prosecution Highway (PPH) and support for startups. He emphasized the importance of an intellectual property system that enables companies to create value through economic activities, as well as the significance of encouraging utilization of intellectual property by businesses.

USPTO Revises Trial Practice Guide for Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB)

The United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) has announced a revision to the Trial Practice Guide concerning Inter Partes Review (IPR) and Post-Grant Review (PGR) before the Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB). This revision mandates the holding of a pre-hearing conference prior to the oral hearing. The main details are as follows.

Trial Practice Guide Section II.M. (Oral Hearing)
The PTAB will conduct a pre-hearing conference no later than 15 days before the oral hearing, in which the parties are required to participate.
The purpose of the pre-hearing conference is for the PTAB to provide advance guidance on issues for which it specifically seeks explanation from the parties during the oral hearing, such as claim construction or objective indicia of non-obviousness.
The pre-hearing conference will also provide the parties an opportunity to identify, in advance, the issues they wish to address during the oral hearing.

These pre-hearing conferences will be conducted for petitions in which a decision to institute proceedings has been made by Director Squires based on the PTAB's procedures for instituting proceedings, which were updated following operational changes carried out in October 2025. However, such conferences may also be held in other cases, upon request by the parties. The USPTO stated that it is widely seeking public comments and feedback regarding the utility of these pre-hearing conferences.

In this revision of the Trial Practice Guide, the USPTO also made adjustments such as the removal of provisions related to the now-terminated transitional review program for inventions related to business methods (Covered Business Method: CBM).

Furthermore, the USPTO announced changes to the procedures for Director Review of PTAB decisions. This update is based on a recent court precedent, which held that a request for Director Review cannot be dismissed for lack of jurisdiction due to a pending appeal before the US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit (CAFC). Accordingly, decisions on Director Review requests will be stayed until the CAFC determines whether to order the Director to conduct a review.

EPO Initiatives to Enhance Patent Quality

In December 2025, the European Patent Office (EPO) introduced a new online form designed to make it easier for third parties to submit observations on published patent applications. In addition, accelerated processing under the Program for Accelerated Prosecution of European Patent Applications (PACE) will be limited to the examination phase.

New Online Tool for Third-Party Observations
As of December 15, 2025, third parties are able to use a new online tool to submit observations concerning European patent applications and patents under opposition via MyEPO, other online services, or the official EPO website.
Supporting evidence may be attached to the observations, and submissions can also be made anonymously. However, submissions that disclose the name of the provider may help expedite examination process.
All submitted observations will be reviewed by the Examining Division or the Opposition Division and will be added to the public file in the European Patent Register. The EPO believes that this tool will expand opportunities for the public to submit observations and will play a vital role in maintaining high patent quality.

Targeted Acceleration Focused on the Examination Phase
From February 1, 2026, the EPO will restrict the application of the PACE program to the examination phase only. This measure will enable the EPO to focus its expertise on the stage where the overall processing time can be reduced most efficiently.
As EPO search operations are already completed within six months or less, the Office considers that acceleration at this stage is no longer necessary.
Furthermore, the EPO announced that it will streamline the handling of user inquiries and further enhance overall support.

Survey on Status of Patent Applications for Business-Related Inventions

The Japan Patent Office (JPO) has published the report for the 2025 Simplified Technical Trend Survey on “Business-Related Inventions”. In recent years, as new technologies have progressed that drive the Fourth Industrial Revolution, such as IoT (Internet of Things) and AI (Artificial Intelligence), attention has increasingly turned to the utilization of business-related inventions. Since 2022, technologies and services related to generative AI have developed rapidly, leading to the introduction of generative AI in diverse fields such as corporate, education, healthcare, and public administration, which is bringing about significant transformations in business activities. This survey examines the status of patent applications for business-related inventions, based on application data up to 2023, in order to clarify filing trends both within Japan and overseas. For the purpose of this survey, business-related inventions are defined as inventions that implement business methods using ICT (Information and Communication Technology). Specifically, patent applications assigned G06Q as the IPC (International Patent Classification) or FI (File Index) are treated as business-related inventions.

Following the “Business-Related Invention” filing boom that occurred in 2000, application numbers declined for a period but began to rise again around 2012. In 2023, the number of patent applications reached 19,870, surpassing the number recorded during the 2000 boom. The patent allowance rate for “Business-Related Inventions” filed in 2000 was 13%, but it has since increased, exceeding 80% in 2023.

The top three fields among the business-related inventions filed in 2023 were as follows:
(1) General service industry (excluding specific fields (※))
(※) “Specific fields” refers to the secondary sector of industry, energy, the primary sector of industry, public services, and education.
(2) Administration and management
(3) E-commerce and marketing

These three fields have shown on a steady upward trend since 2015 and experienced a sharp increase in 2023. The next largest field in terms of application volume was finance, which increased significant 2.7-fold from 2015 to 2023, though no growth was observed in 2023. Additionally, the number of patent applications in education was 100 or less until 2020 and remained at 112 as of 2022, but increased approximately 6-fold year-on-year in 2023.

Furthermore, “Business-Related Inventions” exhibit a high affinity with AI, and the number of cases utilizing AI to address business challenges continues to grow. Since 2022, technologies using “generative AI” and “conversational AI” have proliferated rapidly, transforming operations across a wide range of business fields.

USPTO Establishes Working Group on Standard Essential Patents (SEP)

On December 29, 2025, the US Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) announced the establishment of a Working Group (WG) on Standard Essential Patents (SEPs). This WG will report directly to USPTO Director Squires, and will be co-chaired by Mr. Nicholas Matich, USPTO Deputy General Counsel for Intellectual Property Law and Solicitor, and Mr. Austin Mayron, USPTO Senior Legal Advisor.

According to the USPTO, this WG will primarily pursue the following three objectives:

1. Providing robust remedies for patent owners
Clarifying that valid patent rights, including SEPs, are strong and predictable in their enforcement.

2.Encouraging participation in the standardization process
Examining mechanisms for standards development organizations and bodies to facilitate the participation of a broader range of stakeholders, including small and medium-sized entities in the United States.

3. Enhancing stakeholder collaboration and transparency in the innovation ecosystem
Establishing a forum for discussion among patent owners, businesses, standards development organizations, and other stakeholders to share and resolve their respective challenges, while promoting greater transparency in SEP license negotiations and the standardization process.

In June 2025, the USPTO, together with the US Department of Justice, submitted a joint comment of interest to the US District Court for the Eastern District of Texas, and in November to the International Trade Commission (ITC), regarding the importance of granting preliminary injunctions and exclusion orders based on patent rights. The USPTO explained that the establishment of the current WG on SEPs shares a common philosophy in that robust remedies should be available for patent rights.