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| THURSDAY, 4 December 2008 | |||
| OPENING Master of ceremonies: Kazuaki Takami (FICPI Japan) WELCOME ADDRESSES FROM FICPI, FICPI-JAPAN, AND JPAA Moderator: Kosaku Sugimura (FICPI Japan) Speaker 1: Danny Huntington (FICPI President, US) Speaker 2: Ichio Shamoto (FICPI Japan) Speaker 3: Jun Nakajima (JPAA President) |
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| SESSION 1 Recent Development in JPO and Tokyo High Court This session will summarise recent developments in Intellectual Property in Japan, against the background of the Japanese Government's current Intellectual Property Policy Programme. Specific topics will include the reduction of the examination backlog, patent quality, the expected impact of the patent prosecution highway and the new trilaterally-agreed "common application format". Measures to combat counterfeiting will also be discussed, as will the future role of patent attorneys in Japan. The speaker from the IP High Court will explain the background to the establishment of the Court, the staffing of the Court, the procedures the Court has adopted, and the prospects for the future. Moderator: Kiyoshi Asamura (FICPI Japan) Speaker 1: Takashi Suzuki (JPO Commissioner) Speaker 2: Tomokatsu Tsukahara (Chief Judge, IP High Court) |
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| SESSION 2 Assessment of Inventive Step during Prosecution of Patent Applications in Asia The patentability of innovations that are close to but not anticipated by prior art is looked at in different ways in different jurisdictions. In Europe, for example, the requirement is for an inventive step whereas in the US it is for non-obviousness. Do these different approaches lead to different outcomes? Practitioners from Japan, China, Korea, the US and Europe will debate this issue, in sessions 2 and 3, with reference to a practical example using a simple but very successful invention. Moderator: Yoshikazu Tani (FICPI Japan) Introduction to WorkMate example : David Bannerman (GB) Speaker 1: Yuzuru Okabe (FICPI Japan) Speaker 2: Jay Sha (China) Speaker 3: Young-Wook Ha (Korea) |
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| Lunch with speech by Mr Toshiaki Iimura (Judge, IP High Court) | |||
| SESSION 3 Assessment of Non-Obviousness/Inventive Step during Prosecution of Patent Applications in Europe and the US Moderator: David Bannerman (GB) Speaker 1: Daniel Alge (Austria) Speaker 2: Daniel R Collopy (US) |
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| SESSION 4 Re-instatement of Rights Sometimes mistakes are made and a deadline is missed resulting in a loss of rights, what if any remedies are available in different jurisdictions? Is it reasonable to provide no remedies at all, as is currently the case, for example, in Japan? Where remedies are available is it necessary to provide evidence in support of an application for re-instatement, or can this be effected simply by paying a fine? Is it necessary to prove that all due care had been taken and if so how strictly is this applied? What deadlines apply? This issue will be explored by practitioners from Europe, Japan and North America. Moderator: Jan Modin (Sweden) Speaker 1: John Dean (GB) Speaker 2: John Orange (Canada) Speaker 3: Ms Kay Konishi (FICPI JP) |
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| FRIDAY, 5 December 2008 | |||
| SESSION 5 Comparative Study of Enforcement of Patents in France, Germany and UK All countries of the world have very specific intellectual property traditions, laws and practices. This is true in particular for obtaining and enforcing patents. Europe has been involved in the process of patent harmonization for quite some time. However, this has been mainly true for patent filing and examination, with the various European countries still retaining very personal traditions, laws and practices in terms of patent enforcement. The national peculiarities in patent enforcement span the judicial system, including who has the right to represent parties in that system, the rules and schedule of procedure, the obtention of evidence, the standards for enforceability, validity and infringement, and the sanctions for infringement, including interim measures. Further differences include the overall reliability and predictability of the system, the cost of litigation, and the expected rewards in terms of financial damages. All of these differences make jurisdiction selection a complex mixture of various aspects. These sessions (5 and 6) will address the above features in three main European countries (UK, Germany and France), the US, and Japan. An update on European harmonization of enforcement will also be provided, including the recently implemented EU Directive on IP enforcement and prospects for a future common European patent litigation system. Moderator: Francis Ahner (France) Speaker 1: Axel von Hellfeld (Germany) Speaker 2: Nick Beckett (GB solicitor) Speaker 3: Eric Le Forestier (France) |
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| SESSION 6 Comparative Study of Enforcement of Patents in the US and Japan Moderator: Danny Huntington (US) Speaker 1: Bill Schuurman (US) Speaker 2: Yoshio Kumakura (FICPI Japan) |
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| Lunch with speech by Mr Koichi Minami (JPO Deputy Commissioner) | |||
| SESSION 7 New Types of Trade Marks Trademark law has evolved in many jurisdictions so as to allow the grant of protection for three-dimensional, sound, smell, motion and holographic marks. One of the more common forms of "new marks" is the three-dimensional mark. However the examination and grant of protection for these marks can be complicated. The international panel of speakers will consider issues including best practices for depiction or description of three-dimensional marks. The scope of protection ultimately afforded such marks will be discussed as will functionality, and inherent versus acquired distinctiveness. The presenters will also touch on position marks, holographic marks, motion marks and colour. The less popular sound, smell and motion marks will also be contemplated. Finally the panelists will be invited to share their thoughts as to what the future might hold in terms of the expansion of suitable subject matter for trade mark protection. Moderator: Coleen Morrison (Canada) Speaker 1: Gonçalo de Sampaio (Portugal) Speaker 2: John Hardaway (US) Speaker 3: Hiromichi Aoki (FICPI Japan) |
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| SESSION 8 Presentations by JPAA, FICPI Japan and FICPI International: "What is the JPAA?" "What is FICPI?" Senior officials from both organizations will explain what they are and what they do. JPAA will address Asian Colleagues to explain how JPAA can help them organize and operate an attorney association in their home countries. FICPI is the only worldwide professional association exclusively for high-quality patent attorneys in private practice. How does it benefit its members? How does it develop positions in IP legislation, both current and proposed, and thus seek to influence the relevant legislative bodies with the aim of improving IP laws and procedures to the benefit of both active and passive users of the IP systems? Introduction to First Part : Ms. Junko Sugimura (FICPI JP) Speaker 1: Jun Nakajima (JPAA President) and other members of JPAA (FICPI Japan) Speaker 2: Ichio Shamoto (FICPI Japan) Introduction to Second Part : David Bannerman (President of CET) Speaker 3: Danny Huntington (FICPI President) Speaker 4: Julian Crump (FICPI Secretary General) Speaker 5 : Hirohito Katsunuma (FICPI Japan) |