WORLD TRADE
ORGANIZATIONIP/C/W/306/Add.1
14 September 2001
(01-4343)
Council for Trade-Related Aspects
of Intellectual Property RightsOriginal:  English
TECHNICAL COOPERATION ACTIVITIES:  INFORMATION
FROM DEVELOPED COUNTRY MEMBERS
Addendum
JAPAN
The present document reproduces the updated information on Japan's technical and financial
cooperation activities relevant to the implementation of the TRIPS Agreement, which has been
received from the Permanent Mission of Japan by means of a communication dated5 September 2001.
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I. TECHNICAL AND FINANCIAL COOPERATION IN THE FIELD OF INDUSTRIAL
PROPERTY RIGHTS
1. Voluntary contributions for WIPO Funds-in-Trust/Japan
Since 1987, the Government of Japan (GOJ) has been providing voluntary contributions in
the field of industrial property to the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO).  "WIPO
Funds-in-Trust/Japan" (FIT/JP) in the field of industrial property was established with these voluntary
funds and is used annually to finance various projects for WIPO member countries in the Economicand Social Commission for Asia and Pacific (ESCAP), such as the holding of IP office conferences or
symposia, acceptance of trainees and IPR research students, dispatch of Japan Patent Office (JPO)
officers and support for automation and modernization of IP offices.  The voluntary fund for Japanese
fiscal year (FY) 2001 accounts for ¥178.21 million.
2. Human Resources Development
(a) Training Programme
In order to support developing countries obligated to implement the TRIPS Agreement, Japan
has been receiving trainees.  Between April 1996 and March 2001, Japan received 1207 trainees in
both public and private sectors mainly from 40 countries and one economy in the Asia-Pacific region.In the future, with the goal of 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.
(i) Training programmes for government officialsThe JPO has been holding the group training courses on industrial property rights for
government officials.  In FY2000, the following six group training courses were held.IP/C/W/306/Add.1
Page 2
For APEC member economies- "Group Training Course in Intellectual Property for APEC Economies" is a
two-month course for administrative officials working in areas related to IPR and
examiners of IPR.  Participants are divided into four groups according to their
specialties:  administration, patents and utility models, industrial designs, andtrademarks.
This training course was implemented by the Japan International Cooperation Agency
(JICA) in cooperation with the JPO and the Asia -Pacific Industrial Property Center (APIC) of
the Japan Institute of Invention and Innovation (JIII).
For the ESCAP region- "Training course on the Enforcement of IPR under WIPO Funds-in-Trust/Japan" is a
two-week course for senior officials engaged in the enforcement of IPR in
enforcement-related government agencies.
- "Training course on the Use of Information Technology in IP Administration under
WIPO Funds-in-Trust/Japan" is a two-week c ourse for senior officials of IP offices
responsible for information technology matters.
- "Training course on the Examination Practices of Industrial Property under WIPO
Funds-in-Trust/Japan" is a two-week course for examiners in the field of IPR.
Participants are divided into three groups according to their specialties:  patents and
utility models, industrial designs, and trademarks.
- "Training course on Industrial Property Administration under WIPO
Funds-in-Trust/Japan" is a two-week course for senior officials in IP offices in charge
of general administration and policy planning.
- "Training course on Patent Cooperation Treaty under WIPO Funds-in-Trust/Japan" is
a one-week course for senior officials of IP offices responsible for patent cooperation
treaty matters.
These five training courses are managed by the JPO and organized by the WIPO in
cooperation with JIII APIC.
(ii) Training programmes for the private sector
The JPO has also been holding the following group training courses on industrial property
rights for trainees from the private sector.
For APEC member economies
- "Industrial Property Rights Training Course for Management".
Participants of this two-week course occupy middle and senior management
personnel positions or their equivalent in private companies, law firms, research
institutes and educational organizations.IP/C/W/306/Add.1
Page 3
- "Industrial Property Rights Training Course for Operational Staff".
Participants of the course are operational staff in private companies, law firms,
research institutes and educational organizations.  This three-to-four-week course is
held five times a year.
- "Industrial Property Rights Tr aining Course for Lawyers".
Participants of this three-week course are law staff or lawyers in law firms and
specialists of industrial property law in educational organizations.
For non-APEC economies
- "Training Programme on Industrial Property Management".
The participants occupy middle and senior management positions or their equivalent
in private companies, law firms, research institutes and educational organizations.
The course is for two weeks.
These training courses are conducted by APIC of JIII with the assistance of the
Association for Overseas Technical Scholarship (AOTS).
(b) Long-term fellowship
Under the long-term fellowship project funded by WIPO FIT/JP, a trademark examiner from
Malaysia (Ministry of Domestic Trade and Consum er Affairs: Intellectual Property Division) and a
patent examiner from China (State Intellectual Property Office of the People's Republic of China)
were invited to Japan to study intellectual property issues for a period of six months respectively.
(c) The APEC/PFP Project (Overseas Training Programme)
"Partners for Progress" (PFP) is a mechanism to further promote economic and technical
cooperation on the basis of mutual assistance and volunteerism in APEC.  This APEC/PFP course
aims to foster a deeper understanding of the establishment and management of industrial property
systems by developing human resources to meet international obligations with respect to industrial
property protection.
In February and March 1997, the Government of Thailand conducted the first course in
collaboration with the GOJ through JICA.  The course was also held in Thailand in November and
December 1997, October and November 1998 and August and September 1999 and November 2000.
(d) Seminar on Intellectual Property Rights for IP-Enforcement Staff Members
The JPO has held an enforcement seminar as a third country training programme aimed at
developing human resources engaged in IPR enforcement and supporting relevant enlightenment and
dissemination of IPR systems in the Asia-Pacifi c region.  The seminar programme included basic
lectures on IPRs, presentations by participant countries on the present status of enforcement in their
respective countries, and information exchanges.
One seminar was held in the Republic of Korea in June 2000, and the other was held in
Singapore in February 2001.IP/C/W/306/Add.1
Page 4
(e) Expert missions
Experts and seminar instructors specializing in various areas of IPRs are dispatched by JPO
through WIPO FIT/JP and JICA mainly for periods  of about two weeks.  The dispatched experts
mainly provide on-site instruction regarding exam ination practices, computerization, PCT practices
and so forth.
The JICA also dispatches JPO officials as long-term experts in order to engage in JICA
project-type technical cooperation being implemented in the IP office of the respective recipient
countries and as individual experts on industrial property right administration.
In FY 2000, 15 experts were dispatched under the WIPO scheme and 18 under the JICA
scheme (long-term:  5 persons /short-term:  13 persons).
(f) Symposia
Major symposia, etc. in FY 2000 funded by the WIPO FIT/JP are as shown below.
Title Venue/Date Theme Participants
WIPO Asian Regional
Forum
(Director-General level
talks on regional IP
policies)Republic of
Korea,
November 2000The Intellectual Property
Strategy for the
Promotion of Innovate
and Inventive Activities46 participants from 21
Asia-Pacific countries
and approximately 30
local participants
WIPO Asian Regional
SymposiumNew Zealand,
May 2001The Enforcement of
Intellectual PropertyRights in the 21st
Century36 participants from 23
Asia-Pacific countriesand approximately 30
local participants.
WIPO Asian RegionalWorkshopThe Philippines,
October 2000The Strategy for the
Management of
Industrial Property
Rights by Small and
Medium-sized
Enterprises (SMEs)24 participants from 14
Asia-Pacific countries
and 40 local
participants.
WIPO ASEAN Sub-Regional WorkshopViet Nam,
February 2001The Patent Cooperation
Treaty (PCT)18 participants from 9
ASEAN member
countries and 60 localparticipants.
3. Computerization and Information Processing
(a) Modernization of Industrial Property Administration Project in the Philippines
JICA has been carrying out project-type t echnical cooperation in cooperation with JPO,
consisting of dispatch of two JPO employees as long term experts, for the Intellectual Property Office
of the Philippines (IPO) since May 1999.  This cooperation aims to carry out human resource
development through the establishment of an office work processing system for patents, utility
models, and designs over a period of four years.  The ceremony held on 16 January 2001 following
the completion of the first half of the project to establish a bibliographic database to celebrate theinauguration of the operation of that part of the project is the evidence of the cooperation extended to
the IPO bearing fruit.
Even before the start of the above cooperation, human resource development had been carried
out through the establishment of a trademark word search system from March 1995 to March 1997, aIP/C/W/306/Add.1
Page 5
trademark clerical work system from May 1996 to May 1998, and a trademark management system
from April 1997 to April 2000.  One JPO employee for each of the above systems was dispatched as a
JICA long-term expert.
(b) Modernization of Industrial Property Administration Project in Viet Nam
JICA has also been carrying out project-type technical cooperation in cooperation with JPO,
consisting of dispatch of two JPO employees as long term experts, for the National Office of
Industrial Property of Viet Nam (NOIP).  The cooperation is titled the Modernization of Industrial
Property Administration Project, with the aim of  carrying out human resource development through
the establishment of the industrial property rights related office work processing system construction
over a period of four years.  The ceremony held on May 31, 2001, commemorating inauguration of
such features as the new application bibliographic data entry function, one of the development results
of the first fiscal year, is proof of the fruits of cooperation at the NOIP .
(c) Industrial Property Rights Information Center (IPIC) Project in Thailand
From July 1995 to June 2000, JICA carried out project-type technical cooperation in
cooperation with JPO for the Department of Intellectual Property of Thailand (DIP).  The cooperationwas titled the Industrial Property Rights Information Center (IPIC) Project.  During the
implementation period of the project, six JPO employees were dispatched as long term experts.
Through the establishment of the patent search and external information dissemination system, this
cooperation contributed significantly to the DIP in such areas as improvement of examiner ability and
human resource development.
(d) Provision of the "Patent Abstracts of Japan (PAJ)" on CD-ROM
Since 1995, the JPO has been providing about 80 national offices and other organizations all
over the world with the PAJ, which is a collection of abstracts of Japanese patent applicationstranslated into English, on CD-ROM.
(e) Electronic Data Processing Project for IP Information
The JPO has collected industrial property right laws and regulations of the world's major
countries including the APEC economies, and published both English and Japanese legislative text in
CD-ROM form with search function.
The 1999 version of the CD-ROM includes laws and regulations of Australia, Belgium,
Brazil, Canada, China, Chinese Taipei, the Euro pean Union, France, Germany, Indonesia, Italy,
Japan, Malaysia, the Netherlands, New Zealand, the Philippines, the Republic of Korea, Singapore,
Spain, Switzerland, Thailand, the United Kingdom, the United States and Viet Nam.  150 copies havebeen distributed free of charge.
4. Assistance in Search and Examination
WIPO/State-of-the-Art-Search es for Developing Countries
The JPO provides search reports for which prior art search was requested by industrial
property offices or research institutes of developing countries through the WIPO International Bureau.
The JPO created search reports on 85 applications in fiscal 1998, 94 applications in fiscal
1999 and 103 applications in fiscal 2000 and sent them  to requesting developing countries through the
WIPO/IB.IP/C/W/306/Add.1
Page 6
II. TECHNICAL AND FINANCIAL COOPERATION IN THE FIELD OF COPYRIGHT
The Japan Copyright Office (JCO) has been planning and carrying out the following
programmes with a view to contributing to th e development of copyright systems in developing
countries as well as to strengthening regional cooperation among Asia-Pacific countries.
1. APACE Programme
This programme, which is called "APACE (Asia-Pacific Copyright Systems Enhancement)
Programme," was started in 1993 in cooperation with WIPO, targeting Asia-Pacific countries.  The
APACE Programme consists of the following six activities.
(a) Annual Regional Symposium (since 1993)
Year Venue Participants
1993 Tokyo, Japan 100 participants from 19 countries
1994 Phuket, Thailand 60 participants from 22 countries
1995 Denpasar, Indonesia 100 participants from 17 countries
1996 Chiang Mai, Thailand 60 participants from 23 countries
1997 Manila, the Philippines 100 participants from 27 countries
1998 Islamabad, Pakistan 70 participants from 24 countries
1999 New Delhi, India 80 participants from 21 countries
2001 Guangzhou, China 160 participants from 24 countries
(b) Training Programme in Tokyo, Japan (since 1994)
Year Participants
1994 5 trainees from China, India, Indonesia and Mongolia
1995 4 trainees from the Philippines, the Republic of Korea, Thailand and Viet Nam
1996 5 trainees from Bangladesh, Malaysia, Singapore, Sri Lanka and Tonga
1997 8 trainees from Bhutan, China, Indonesia, Laos, Mongolia, Nepal, the Philippines and
the Republic of Korea
1998 8 trainees from Cambodia, Fiji, India, Ma laysia, Pakistan, Samoa, Thailand, and Viet
Nam
1999 12 trainees from Bangladesh, Bhutan, Brunei Darussalam, China, India, Indonesia,
Laos, Pakistan, Papua New Guinea, the Philippines, Singapore and Sri Lanka
2000 14 trainees from India, Indonesia, Cambodia, Sri Lanka, Thailand, China, Nepal,
Pakistan, Vanuatu, Fiji, the Philippines, Viet Nam, Malaysia and Mongolia
(c) Sub-Regional Seminar (since 1995)
Year Venue Participants
1995 Suva, Fiji 30 participants from 12 countries
1997 Nuku'alofa, Tonga 30 participants from 10 countries
1998 Apia, Samoa 80 participants from 13 countries
2000 Apia, Samoa 50 participants from 13 countriesIP/C/W/306/Add.1
Page 7
(d) Experts Missions (since 1999)
This programme was started in 1999, in order to assist the countries in developing and
strengthening infrastructure for the protection and management of copyright and neighbouring rights.
Year Venue
1999 The Philippines and Viet Nam
2000 Samoa and Sri Lanka
(e) Training on Collective Management
This programme is started in 2000, which is on-the-job training for staffs of collective
management organizations or government officials in developing countries.
Year Country
2000 The Philippines
(f) National Seminar on Copyright and Neighboring Rights
This programme is started in 2000, in order to promote awareness of the protection of
copyright and neighbouring rights and the role it can play in cultural and economic development of
developing countries.
Year Venue
2000 Nepal, Samoa, Sri Lanka and Indonesia
2. Asian Copyright Experts Invitation Programme
This programme was started in 1996 to invite each year a high official in charge of copyright
from governments of Asian countries.  Lecture and discussion meetings are organized, inviting
Japanese experts, to share information and learn from each other.  The guests have been invited fromthe following countries.
Year Country
1996 Thailand
1997 The Republic of Korea
1998 Hong Kong, China
1999 Singapore
2000 China
3. Asia-Pacific Copyright and Neighboring Rights Seminar
This programme was started in 1997, to provide participating copyright experts of
Asia-Pacific countries with opportunities to exchange information and viewpoints as well as to
discuss possible regional common positions and/or actions in the future. It was organized incooperation with APEC in 2001.
Year Venue Participants
1997 Yokohama, Japan 40 participants from 7 countries
1998 Tokyo, Japan 80 participants from 14 countries and 3 NGOs
1999 Tokyo, Japan 80 participants from 26 countries and 3 NGOs
2000 Tokyo, Japan 100 participants from 25 countries and 3 NGOs
2001 Tokyo, Japan 110 participants from 20 countries (APEC members)IP/C/W/306/Add.1
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4. JICA Group Training Course
This JICA training course was started in 1999 in cooperation with JCO, to contribute to the
development of copyright systems.
Year Participants
1999 7 trainees from Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Kenya, Papua New Guinea, Samoa and
Zambia
1999 7 trainees from Fiji, Kiribati, Palau, Palestine, Papua New Guinea (2) and Tonga
2000 7 trainees from Colombia, Kenya, Moldova, Papua New Guinea, Peru, Saudi Arabia
and Solomon Islands
2001 7 trainees from Ghana, Kenya, Panama, Papua New Guinea, Peru, Saudi Arabia and
Vanuatu
III. TECHNICAL AND FINANCIAL COOPERATION IN THE FIELD OF PLANT
VARIETY PROTECTION
Through the UPOV Trust Fund of Japan, the GOJ has supported a programme which provides
Asian countries with seminars and workshops on plant variety protection systems.
The seminars have been held since FY 1991 for the purpose of contributing to the promotion
and establishment of the plant variety protection systems.   And the workshop scheme has been held
since Japanese FY 1996, in order to provide some practical knowledge and technique relating to the
plant variety protection. In addition, the regional t echnical meeting for Asian plant variety protection
system, has been set up since Japanese FY 2000 in order to discuss regional technical issues and to
promote regional cooperation in variety testing.
Details of the seminars and the workshops which have been held are as follows:
International Seminars
Year Venue Participants
1996 Kyrgyz
Republic10 participants from Belarus, Georgia, Kazakhstan, the Russian
Federation, Tajikistan, Ukraine and Uzbekistan
1999 China 10 participants from Malaysia, the Philippines, the Republic of
Korea, Thailand and Viet Nam
Regional Seminars
Year Venue Participants
1991 Japan 14 participants from China, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, the
Republic of Korea, Singapore and Thailand
1992 The Republic
of Korea13 participants from China, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines,
Singapore and Thailand
1993 China 18 participants from Bangladesh, India, Indonesia, Malaysia,
Pakistan, the Philippines, Thailand and the Republic of Korea
1995 Indonesia 16 participants from Bangladesh, India, Malaysia, Pakistan, the
Philippines, Singapore, Sri Lanka, Thailand and Viet Nam
1996 Viet Nam 7 participants from Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines and
ThailandIP/C/W/306/Add.1
Page 9
National Seminars
Year Venue
1994 China, Indonesia, Malaysia, Pakistan and the Philippines
1996 India and Bangladesh
2000 The Philippines, Singapore, Malaysia, India, Sri Lanka and Indonesia
Workshops
Year Venue Participants Note
1997 Australia 64 participants from Asia-Pacific
countriesIn cooperation with Asia
Pacific Seed Association
(APSA)
1998 The United
Kingdom14 participants from China, Indonesia,
Malaysia, the Philippines, the Republic
of Korea, Thailand and Viet NamIn cooperation with WIPO
1999 The United
Kingdom7 participants from Bangladesh, China,
India, Indonesia, Sri Lanka and
ThailandIn cooperation with WIPO
2000 Japan 10 participants from China, Indonesia,
Malaysia, the Philippines, the Republicof Korea, Thailand and Viet Nam
2001 China 18 participants from India, Indonesia,
Malaysia, Pakistan, the Philippines, Sri
Lanka, Thailand, Republic of Korea,
and Viet Nam
Regional Technical Meeting
Year Venue Participants
2000 Japan 10 participants from China, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines,
Republic of Korea, Thailand and Viet Nam
2001 China 18 participants from India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Pakistan, the
Philippines, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Republic of Korea, and Viet Nam
IV. TECHNICAL AND FINANCIAL COOPERATION IN THE FIELD OF BORDER
MEASURES
Since 1997, the Ministry of Finance, the GOJ has provided a training course in the field of
border measures for the enforcement of intellectual property rights.  The main purpose of this
programme is to assist in the smooth implem entation of the TRIPS Agreement by developing
countries in the Asia-Pacific region.
Date Venue Participants
5-14 March 1997 Japan China and Indonesia
5-14 November 1997 Japan The Philippines and Viet Nam
11-20 November 1998 Japan Peru and Thailand
9-19 November 1999 Japan Chile and Malaysia
8-17 November 2000 Japan China and Viet Nam
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