Recent developments in Japan's intellectual property industry

There have been many changes and new initiatives in the field of intellectual property (IP) and the use of patent information (PI) in Japan in recent years. In this article the author provides a concise survey of these developments. Topics embraced include the increased corporate emphasis on IP and the moves towards greater integration of IP and PI into other core activities such as R & D and strategic planning. Japanese government initiatives covered include the Intellectual Property Policy Outline and the Intellectual Property Strategic Program, as well as major efforts to reduce backlogs of patent applications awaiting search and examination--such as outsourcing and the increased recruitment of examiners. Other topics referred to include the increasing need for better prior art searches early in the R & D process, patent databases and licensing activities.