88av 888

November 24, 2023

On November 14 to 16, 2023, the 88av 888 (JPO) held an ^*Examiner Exchange Program with the China National Intellectual Property Administration (CNIPA).

The JPO has conducted Examiner Exchange Programs with the CNIPA for many years. This time, we held an in-person program by inviting CNIPA examiners to Japan.

In the program, six JPO examiners and six CNIPA examiners deepened understanding of each other's examination practices by discussing cross-filed patent applications in the four fields of material analysis and medical diagnosis, motive machinery, polymer, and data processing and by exchanging information on prior art search methods and systems and operation of examination standards.

The examiners of the two Offices commented that the program was valuable because they could discuss the support requirement not fully discussed in the July exchange program and that the program offered an opportunity to discuss in depth data structure claims in AI-related fields.

The JPO will continue to cooperate on patent examination with the IP Offices of other countries.

^*The Examiner Exchange Program is designed to foster a relationship of trust and deepen mutual understanding between the examiners of the JPO and an overseas IP Office and to promote mutual use of prior art search results and examination results through discussions on each other's prior art search methods and examination practices.

Participants from the two Offices

Scene from the discussions (1)

Scene from the discussions (2)

[Last updated 24 November 2023]