1 TECHNICAL AND FINANCIAL COOPERATION IN THE FIELD OF INDUSTRIAL PROPERTY RIGHTS
1.1 Voluntary Contributions for WIPO Funds-in-Trust/Japan
1. Since 1987, the Government of Japan has been providing voluntary contributions in the field of industrial property to the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO). The "WIPO Funds-in-Trust/Japan" (FIT/JP) in the field of industrial property was established with these voluntary funds. The FIT/JP is used to finance various projects for WIPO member States in the Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP), such as holding IP office conferences or symposia, welcoming trainees and IPR research students, sending Japan Patent Office (JPO) officials and supporting the automation and modernization of IP offices. The voluntary fund for the Japanese fiscal year (FY) 2017 amounts to 3.83 million Swiss francs.
2. In addition to the above, since FY 2008, the Government of Japan has been providing a new Japan Funds-in-Trust programme for Africa to the amount of 1.6 million Swiss francs, annually. This fund will support activities aimed, inter alia, at strengthening the legal and administrative frameworks for Intellectual Property (IP) protection, automating and modernizing IP infrastructure to ensure high quality service to users, and sharing the experience of Japanese SMEs and experts in business oriented IP management and human resource development in Africa.
1.2 Programmes by the Japan Patent Office (JPO)
1.2.1 Training Programme
3. In order to support developing countries to implement the TRIPS Agreement, Japan has been welcoming trainees from these countries. Between April 1996 and March 2017, Japan welcomed 5,534 trainees in both public and private sectors from 80 countries and regions, primarily in the Asia-Pacific region. In the future, with the goal of the efficient implementation of laws in mind, Japan is scheduled to proceed with human resource development activities emphasizing the area of enforcement of intellectual property rights (IPR).
1.2.1.1 Training Programmes for Government Officials
4. The JPO has been holding group training courses about industrial property rights for government officials. In FY 2016, 17 group training courses were held, and 186 participants in total were welcomed for training (see Table 1 attached in the Annex).
1.2.1.2 Training Programmes for the Private Sector
5. The JPO has also been holding group training courses on industrial property rights for trainees from the private sector. In FY 2016, 5 group training courses were held, and 113 participants in total were welcomed for training (see Table 2 attached in the Annex).
1.2.2 Long-term and Short-term Fellowships
6. Under the long-term fellowship project funded by WIPO FIT/JP, one trainee from the Philippines was invited to Japan in FY 2016 to study IP issues for a period of three months. In FY 2016, the JPO welcomed four trainees on the long-term fellowship from Vietnam, Mexico, Indonesia and Malaysia for about four months under an independent project.
7. Under the short-term fellowship project funded by WIPO FIT/JP, four trainees from the Philippines, India, Mongolia and Sri Lanka were invited to Japan in FY 2016 to study IP issues for a period of about two weeks.
1.2.3 Seminar on Intellectual Property Rights for Alumni Association Members
8. The JPO has suggested to the trainees that an alumni association be established to help disseminate information on IP systems in their home countries and to keep the members of the association informed of current IP developments. The JPO has conducted follow-up seminars in various Asian countries for those who had completed training programmes in Japan, in order to sustain the fruits of the training programmes and contribute to human resources development.
9. When the JPO receives a request from an alumni association to assist them in conducting an IP seminar, the following types of assistance are provided: financial assistance to meet the cost of holding the seminar, and the sending of Japanese speakers to the event.
10. In FY 2016, follow-up seminars were held in Thailand, the Philippines, India and Myanmar.
1.2.4 Expert Missions
11. Experts and seminar speakers specializing in various areas of IPR are sent by the JPO through WIPO FIT/JP and the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), mainly for periods of about two weeks. The experts mainly provide on-site instruction regarding examination practices, computerization and so forth.
12. The JPO has sent long-term experts under the JICA scheme in order to engage in JICA technical cooperation projects being implemented in the IP office of the respective recipient countries.
13. In FY 2016, 18 experts were sent under the WIPO scheme, and 7 experts were sent under the JICA scheme.
1.2.5 WIPO FIT/JP Symposia
14. In FY 2016, 25 symposia were held with the support of funding from the WIPO FIT/JP (See Table 3 attached in the Annex).
1.2.6 Provision of the "Patent Abstracts of Japan (PAJ)" on CD-ROM
15. There have been problems of third parties obtaining patents in other countries for the inventions for which applications have already been filed in Japan. To help prevent this problem and improve the quality of examinations in developing countries, the JPO has been publishing the CD ROM version Patent Abstracts of Japan (PAJ). PAJ contains English translations of bibliographic data and patent abstracts as well as representative drawings published in the Kokai Tokkyo Koho, which means publications of unexamined patent applications. Since April 1995, the JPO has been providing PAJ on CD-ROM free of charge to foreign organizations/institutions including major IP Offices and international organizations, and as of July 2017, 73 organizations/institutions receive them on a regular basis.
1.2.7 Project to Publish (in English and Japanese) the Industrial Property Laws and Regulations in Effect in Various Countries
16. The JPO translated laws and regulations, which were related to the industrial property rights of foreign countries into English and Japanese and provided these translations through the JPO’s website. At present, translations of the laws and regulations of about 100 countries and intergovernmental organizations can be browsed on its website. Japanese: http://www.jpo.go.jp/shiryou/s_sonota/fips/mokuji.htm English: http://www.jpo.go.jp/shiryou_e/s_sonota_e/fips_e/mokuji_e.htm
1.3 JICA Projects
1.3.1 Technical Cooperation Projects
17. In the field of Intellectual Property, JICA has implemented various technical cooperation projects, which consist of sending JICA experts, training of local officials for ‘capacity development’, and supply of equipment. For instance, a project was conducted to strengthen the enforcement of intellectual property rights in Viet Nam (see Table 4 attached in the Annex).
1.3.2 Group Training Course
18. JICA has also implemented group training courses of intellectual property. In cooperation with the WIPO and Kyoto Comparative Law Center (KCLC; Non-Profit Research Organization), JICA implemented two-month training on the legal system of IPR and the Enforcement of IPR for officials from enforcement-related government agencies from around the world (FY2000-2012). Furthermore, since 2015, in cooperation with KCLC, JICA has conducted one-month training on Improved Intellectual Property System for Promoting Direct Investment from Overseas.
2 TECHNICAL AND FINANCIAL COOPERATION IN THE FIELD OF COPYRIGHT
2.1 JCO Programmes
19. The Japan Copyright Office (JCO), Agency for Cultural Affairs, has been planning and carrying out the following programmes with a view to contributing to the development of copyright systems in developing countries as well as to strengthening regional cooperation among Asia-Pacific countries.
2.1.1 APACE Programme (since 1993)
20. The "APACE (Asia-Pacific Copyright Systems Enhancement) Programme" was started in 1993 with establishing the "WIPO Funds in Trust/Japan"(FIT/JP) in the field of copyright, targeting Asia-Pacific countries. In FY2016, following programmes were implemented:
2.1.1.1 Annual Regional Workshop (since 1993)
21. Annual regional workshop has been organized with the fund of WIPO/FIT Japan since 1993. In FY2016, Sub-Regional Workshop on Copyright Awareness and Capacity Building for ASEAN Countries was held in Malaysia, where 10 participants from ASEAN countries discussed the necessity of developing national copyright strategies and policies (see Table 5(A) attached in the Annex).
2.1.1.2 Training Programme in Tokyo, Japan (since 1994)
22. Since 1994, the JCO has been providing training in Japan, in cooperation with WIPO, to participants from Asian countries. In 2016, a training course on enforcement of copyrights and related rights took place in Tokyo (see Table 5(B) attached in the Annex).
2.1.1.3 Training on Collective Management (since 2000)
23. This programme started in 2000. It is an on-the-job training for staff of collective management organizations or government officials in developing countries. In 2016, a study visit to collective management organization in Japan was arranged for 8 participants from Cambodia, Cook Islands, Lao PDR, Maldives and Myanmar (see Table 5(C) attached in the Annex).
2.1.1.4 National Seminar on Copyright and Neighbouring Rights (since 2000)
24. This programme started in 2000, in order to promote awareness of the protection of copyrights and neighbouring rights, and the role it can play in cultural and economic development of developing countries. In 2016-2017, this seminar was held in Lao PDR and Maldives, with more than 80 participants in total both from government agencies and private sectors in these countries (see Table 5(D) attached in the Annex).
3 TECHNICAL AND FINANCIAL COOPERATION IN THE FIELD OF PLANT VARIETY PROTECTION
3.1 Cooperation through the UPOV
25. In the form of a Funds-in-Trust to the UPOV, the Government of Japan has supported programmes on plant variety protection (PVP) systems.
26. To facilitate establishment and implementation of PVP systems for countries in the Asian region, various activities were implemented. National and international seminars have been held since FY 1991 for the purpose of raising awareness of PVP systems. In order to provide practical knowledge and techniques related to PVP, Training course on DUS Test was held in Viet Nam in 2016. In addition, bearing in mind the importance of raising awareness of PVP system in national level, the high level study tour on PVP was conducted in Japan in July 2016 to demonstrate the use of UPOV system of PVP to add value for farmers and growers.
3.2 JICA GROUP TRAINING COURSE
27. This JICA training course started in 2000 in cooperation with the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries and NCSS (Center for Seeds and Seedlings, National Agriculture and Food Research Organization) to contribute to the enhancement of PVP systems and quality control of seeds and seedlings. In 2017, a Group Training Course was held in Japan and Viet Nam having 8 participants from 8 countries (Argentine, Bangladesh, Cambodia, Lao PDR, Myanmar, Sri Lanka, Viet Nam and Zambia) (see Table 6(A) attached in the Annex).
3.3 Cooperation through the East Asia Plant Variety Protection Forum
28. To facilitate establishment and international harmonization of PVP systems in East Asian countries, the East Asia Plant Variety Protection Forum (EAPVPF) was formed under the Japan’s initiative in 2008 with participation of ASEAN countries, China, Republic of Korea and Japan.
29. Various cooperation activities proposed by EAPVPF members have been implemented. In 2016, this forum took place in Viet Nam with 38 participants from 11 countries. Seminars on Plant Variety Protection were held in Myanmar and Thailand and Training courses on DUS growing test were held in Myanmar, Thailand and Viet Nam (see Table 6(B)-(D) attached in the Annex). The details of this activity can be referred to the following website: http://www.eapvp.org/index.html
4 TECHNICAL AND FINANCIAL COOPERATION IN THE FIELD OF BORDER MEASURES
30. The Ministry of Finance of the Government of Japan have provided scholarship programmes, training courses, expert missions on the TRIPS Agreement in the field of border measures for the enforcement of intellectual property rights. The main purpose of these programmes is to assist in the smooth implementation of the TRIPS Agreement by customs officials in developing countries, mainly in the Asia-Pacific region. In FY 2016, the scholarship programme was held in Japan, with 10 participants (see Table 7(A) attached in the Annex). Furthermore, experts were sent to 6 countries in FY 2016 to advise its customs officers on knowledge and technique in the field of IPR border enforcement (see Table 7(C) attached in the Annex).
