1. 1 Tackling the Backlog Measures to be considered Satoshi Moriyasu Director Japan Patent Office

2. 2 IN: (1) Campaign to change applicant behavior –High-level meetings with corporate executives (2) Fee structure –Half refund system of examination request fee OUT: (1) Increasing examiners –490 fixed-term examiners (2) Outsourcing search –237 thousand searches (predicted) for FY2009 (3) Work sharing –PPH programs with 12 Offices –Trilateral PCT-PPH pilot Japan Patent Office Tackling the Backlog

3. 3 Japan Patent Office Campaign to change applicant behavior High-level meetings with corporate executives (corporations ranking high in number of applications) –Careful selection of applications to request examination –Encouragement of further global applications –Over 100 meetings in fiscal year 2008 Working-level meetings with corporate staff –Over 150 meetings in fiscal year 2008

4. 4 0 1000 2000 3000 4000 5000 6000 7000 1,965/month 2,048/month 502/month (09/Aug/2006 - 08/Aug/2007) Half refund system of examination request fee Full refund system of examination request fee (09/Aug/2007 - Sep/2009) Number of withdrawals and abandonments after first action Number of withdrawals and abandonments before first action Japan Patent Office Fee Structure Number of Withdrawals and Abandonments

5. 5 Number of patent examiners in the JPO 490 1202 11901175 1174 1162 1145 1126 490 392 294 196 98 1126 1243 1358 1468 1567 1680 1692 0 200 400 600 800 1000 1200 1400 1600 1800 2003200420052006200720082009 FY persons Full-time examiners Fixed-term examiners Total Japan Patent Office Increasing examiners

6. 6 (Forecasted values after FY2009) 65% of all searches for non-PCT applications is planned to be outsourced in FY 2009 Number of outsourced searches 252 237 225 213 197 187 0 50 100 150 200 250 300 200520062007200820092010 FY Thousand Japan Patent Office Outsourcing Search

7. 7 Search/ Examination Allowable Request for PPH Application Office of First Filing (OFF) Application Paris Route Accelerated Exam. A B Examination Request for PPH C PCT International PhasePCT National/Regional Phase PCT Application Allowable Request for PPH Accelerated Exam. WO or IPER Positive Opinion Accelerated Exam. PCT work products of a Trilateral Office Request for PPH in a Trilateral Office Work sharing Patent Prosecution Highway (PPH) Japan Patent Office Office of Second Filing (OSF)

8. 8 Japan Patent Office Development of PPH Number of PPH applications where the JPO is Office of first filing (OFF) or second filing (OSF) 0 20 40 60 80 100 120 140 160 180 2006 Jul-Dec 2007 Jan-Jun 2007 Jul-Dec 2008 Jan-Jun 2008 Jul-Dec 2009 Jan-Jun 2009 Jul-Dec JPO as OSF (OFF=UK, US, KR) 2006 Jul-Dec 0 100 200 300 400 500 600 700 800 2007 Jan-Jun 2007 Jul-Dec 2008 Jan-Jun 2008 Jul-Dec 2009 Jan-Jun 2009 Jul-Dec JPO as OFF (OSF=UK, US, KR)

9. 9 OFF (JPO) Application Final Exam. OSF FA FA Results FA OFF prioritizes examination of first filing Corresponding Application Corresponding Application OSF can utilize FA results of OFF 30 months 12 months (Paris Priority) JP-FIRST (JP - Fast Information Release STrategy) Japan Patent Office

10. 10 Conclusions Unilateral effect (sometimes costly): –Campaign to change applicant behavior –Fee structure –Increasing examiners –Outsourcing search Bi- or multi-lateral effect (not so costly) : –Work sharing A best-mix ? Cooperation among offices

11. 11 Thank You!