Japan Announces Launch of Peer to Patent

IBM Japan, Ltd., Fujitsu Ltd., and other major IT companies plan to utilize outside specialists’ expertise for patent registration.  These companies will use a new patent examination system initiated by the Japan Patent Office (JPO) in June on a trial basis to have researchers and other experts who are knowledgeable about cutting-edge technology check whether their own inventions are suitable for patent registration.  The aim is to reduce the risk of patents becoming invalid because prior literature or other evidence is discovered after they are registered.
       

The new system adopted by the JPO is called “Community Patent Review.”  It covers disclosed patent applications chosen by IBM Japan or other companies after 18 months have passed since they were filed.  The JPO will recruit several hundred participants, including university researchers, to have them express their opinions about the trends for the latest papers presented at overseas academic conferences, the existence or absence of prior literature, and other issues, and it will make use of those opinions for patent examinations.

Ricoh Co., Ltd. also plans to use the new system.  Users of the new system can reduce the risk of another company claiming that a patent that has been obtained is invalid, and they may also be able to carry out licensing negotiations that are favorable to them.  This year dozens of patent applications centered on IT-related software and network technologies are expected to undergo examinations.

Currently, JPO examiners use databases to closely investigate prior cases Japan and overseas, such as existing patents and academic papers, and examine the novelty of patent applications.  However, as an official of the JPO’s examination policy planning section noted, the examiners “cannot fully investigate academic papers and manuals that are not included in databases.”  In 2006, there were 194 patents that became invalid because they were found to lack novelty.

The JPO will compile the results on the new system by the end of this year.  If it considers the new system to be effective, the JPO will call on more businesses to use it in the next fiscal year and thereafter.