China has slowly creeped up and overtaken substantially in the IP world; with Japan being the previous leader in innovation and IP patenting, we decided to get in touch with legal expert Katsumori Iseki, who discusses how the Chinese patent growth is affecting Japan and its business.
How would you describe the current growth in patent applications and the overall atmosphere in the IP sphere?
The worldwide growth of the number of patent applications and the growing awareness toward intellectual property rights (IPRs) should be appreciated. However, such awareness has to contribute to the business’ success and it is much more difficult to succeed in business than to obtain patent rights. Although IPRs are just a tool for achieving success, businesses can benefit substantially from using the IPRs strategically. Therefore, the current global tendency towards IPRs is desirable, but establishing IPRs systems which will hinder business growth should be avoided. Especially more so in the recent so-called ‘Fourth Industry Revolution’ age, where there is an increasing demand for new IPRs systems to protect unprecedented new technologies.
The worldwide growth in the number of patent applications is mainly due to the rapid growth of applications in China. It is based on the rising of awareness for IPRs by Chinese companies and also based on the IPRs’ policies implemented by the Chinese government. In fact, the number of Japanese patent applications from China has largely grown recently and we have actually witnessed such a growth in our firm as well. Besides, we have found that some Chinese companies tried to build strong and hybrid IPRs portfolios by using design patents. More importantly, the number of lawsuits related with IPRs and trials for IPRs invalidations is also rapidly increasing in China. It means that Chinese companies drastically, but firmly, have accumulated experiences in enforcement, defence and lawsuits in a short period of time, which normally takes more years to companies in other jurisdictions, particularly in Japan. Basically, Japanese companies have high awareness towards IPRs and high practical capabilities - such as interpreting the scopes of IPRs - and, in most cases, they have settled problems relating to IPRs with other Japanese companies before going to court. Therefore, those Japanese companies who have less experience with lawsuits and its practice would surely be exposed to the threat by Chinese companies with rich practical IPRs experiences from now on.
Many large Japanese companies have gathered experience in acquisition and enforcement of IPRs, especially in the US and Europe, and they are also largely experiencing the filing and prosecution of processing applications in China. Furthermore, they are recently turning their eyes to ASEAN regions in terms of protection and enforcement of IPRs, but some far-seeing companies seem to be getting prepared for lawsuits and trials for invalidation in China in cooperation with local Japanese and Chinese patent attorneys. These companies believe that China will become the important venue for IP disputes in the near future in terms of forum shopping. As a matter of fact, our firm is seeing an increase in the number of consultation cases for those preparations and issues for our Japanese clients. These issues would be more and more important not only for Japanese companies but also for other oversea companies in the US, Europe, Korea and so on.
Katsumori Iseki
Founder
Katsumori ISEKI is a Japanese patent attorney practicing within the IP field for more than 17 years. His experience includes working at a US law firm; meanwhile, he has been appointed as an adviser of management support for Organisation for Small & Medium Enterprises and Regional Innovation, JAPAN. He is currently a board member of FICPI JAPAN. He obtained his LL.M. (Master of Law) from UC Berkeley, Law School.
Katsumori ISEKI is a founder of CPJAPAN IP Attorneys, a Japanese IP law firm established in 2011. CP JAPAN IP Attorneys’ activities range from ordinary practices obtaining IPRs of patents, designs and trademarks to consultations regarding not only domestic but also cross-border IP disputes, management and so on for SMEs and start-ups. Since we have a native Chinese patent attorney, a Taiwanese patent attorney and Korean IP practitioners, our IP services to those countries in relation to Japan are extensive, effective and efficient. In addition, we have experienced Ph.D. practitioners in the field of life science. Thus, our patent attorneys, in cooperation with those practitioners, can provide our clients with insightful and extensive practices. Our international team, including not only above native staffs but also practitioners with international experiences in North America and Europe, can overcome promptly and efficiently the complicated cross-border IP issues faced by our clients. More than half of our clients are international, mainly from China, Korea, Germany, France, and US. The remainder of our client base comprises domestic companies, primarily SMEs.
