Recently, the heads of the world's five largest intellectual property offices (collectively referred to as the "Five Intellectual Property Offices"), namely, the China National Intellectual Property Administration (CNIPA), the European Patent Office (EPO), the Japanese Patent Office (JPO), the Korean Intellectual Property Office (KIPO) and the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO), held the 16th annual meeting. This year's conference is hosted by USPTO in Honolulu, Hawaii, USA, with a focus on discussing the role of the Fifth Bureau of Intellectual Property in addressing climate change through an accessible and inclusive intellectual property system.
Kathi Vidal, Deputy Secretary for Intellectual Property Affairs and USPTO Director of the US Department of Commerce, chaired the meeting, which was attended by CNIPA Director Shen Changyu, EPO Director Ant ó nio Campinos, JPO Director Koichi Hamano, and KIPO Director Insil Lee. The World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) also attended the meeting as an observer, with Lisa Jorgenson, Deputy Director General of the Patent and Technology Department, representing Director General Daren Tang.
The Fifth Bureau of Intellectual Property introduced their respective views and measures to address current and future climate change mitigation. Kampnos introduced the measures taken by the agency to achieve carbon neutrality by 2030. He also emphasized the important steps taken to incentivize sustainable innovation: prioritizing the delivery of high-quality patents, utilizing powerful tools such as the patent search database Espacenet and its dedicated search platform (the recently launched "Fire Technology" platform) to support users in searching for patent information on sustainable technologies, and the EPO Patent and Technology Observatory, which will be launched later this year to help promote the development of targeted solutions for global needs such as climate change. In addition, Campunos also explained how the examiner team of the agency was brought together in eight technology communities whose goals are aligned with the EU industrial ecosystem and the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, and better matched with today's innovation environment. He also emphasized the crucial role of a unified patent system in reducing costs and complexity by increasing legal certainty.
When reviewing the latest measures and progress of cooperation among the five bureaus of intellectual property, the directors of each bureau recognized the progress of the ongoing five bureau working group projects, including the implementation of the Five Bureau Emerging Technology/Artificial Intelligence (NET/AI) roadmap, related work on unifying electronic signature, format, and attachment requirements, and exploration of creating global tasks.
All intellectual property offices have recognized the importance of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals and explored ways of cooperation to provide higher value to users, incorporating sustainability into the framework of the five intellectual property offices. Last but not least, the Fifth Bureau revised and adopted the 2017 IP5 Vision Statement, which includes a broader scope of work for the Fifth Bureau of Intellectual Property, with a focus on building a sustainable future and strengthening and simplifying the intellectual property system.
As an organization responsible for the majority of global patent applications, we have a unique responsibility to ensure fair access to the patent system and the sustainable technologies it nurtures. Therefore, I am pleased that we have now incorporated this responsibility into our mission, which will enable us to focus our collective efforts on supporting innovative talent around the world - regardless of their backgrounds - to drive progress towards achieving critical sustainable development goals
Prior to this conference, USPTO held a public event titled "Sustainable Innovation Dialogue: Exploring the Relationship between Intellectual Property and Climate Change" on June 13, 2023. The director of the Fifth Bureau of Intellectual Property took advantage of this opportunity to have direct communication with stakeholders. They discussed the plans of the Fifth Bureau of Intellectual Property on climate related matters, climate and green technologies, as well as the challenges faced by small and medium-sized enterprises and startups in the field of climate related innovation.
The conference schedule also includes a visit to the Inouye Regional Centre of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) in the United States. The head of the Intellectual Property Office 5 also participated in a joint program with NOAA to discuss intellectual property and innovation related to climate and blue economy.
The next meeting of the Directors of the Fifth Bureau of Intellectual Property will be hosted by KIPO in 2024.