Country Focus: IP Revolution - How Japan Formulated a National IP Strategy
| Author | Mr. Hisamitsu Arai |
| Position | Played a central role in formulating and implementing the national strategy which aims to make Japan |
It seems that not a day passes without an article about intellectual property (IP) appearing in the press somewhere in the world. This growing media coverage reflects a major shift in the driving force of international trade - from tangible property in the form of goods and products, to intangible intellectual property in the form of innovative and creative works. Nowadays, the competitiveness of a state depends to a large extent on how well it manages these intangible assets. This overview of how Japan began to revitalize its economy through innovation and creativity - and through the strategic use of the IP system to protect them - is an instructive illustration, that may be of interest to policymakers and stakeholders in other countries.
When I took office as Commissioner of the Japan Patent Office (JPO) in 1996, the national IP system was rigid and out-dated, and the country's IP law and policies needed reviewing in the light of a new role for IP in Japan's new innovation policies. Urgent action was required, especially as Japan was struggling to recover from a long economic slump - the so-called "lost decade" of the 1990s.
First, the patent system had to become more user-friendly, particularly to researchers and managers of small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs). Interviews with employees at research institutes and factories indicated that the processing of patent applications by the JPO was too slow and onerous. My top priority was therefore to accelerate the examination procedure to meet users' needs, which were growing rapidly, in part due to fast-moving technological changes.
An additional priority was to increase the amount of damages awarded to patent owners in cases of infringement, as these were too small to discourage illegal activities. If Japan was to become an "IP-based state," more severe penalties had to be imposed on parties willfully infringing IP rights. I felt strongly that Japanese citizens should be encouraged to create new technologies, rather than purloining existing ones. With this in mind, I proposed a major amendment to the patent law that included changes in the criteria for assessing damages for IP infringement.
I left government service in 2001; but in that same year, two IP cases prompted me to take action which triggered Government debate and eventually led to the launching of Japan's national IP strategy.
The first case concerned a Japanese researcher at a U.S. university medical center who was accused of illegally taking genetic material from the center for research on Alzheimer's disease. His contract stated that any research results belonged to the center, but the researcher had not understood the scope of this provision. This confirmed my concern about the lack of awareness about IP among Japanese researchers and companies, particularly those undertaking joint research projects.
The second case was a patent lawsuit filed by an inventor, Dr. Nakamura, against his former employer, the Nichia chemical company, over his claim for "appropriate" remuneration for his contribution to the invention of a blue light-emitting diode (LED), that had excellent market potential. The Tokyo District Court ruled that the company should...
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