ASEAN: Issued Japan-ASEAN Intellectual Property Joint Statement 2024

On 4 September 2024, the Member States of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) ("AMS IPOs”) and the Japan Patent Office (“JPO”) issued the Intellectual Property Joint Statement 2024. In the Joint Statement, the parties adopted the AMS IPOs-JPO IP Action Plan for the period 2024–2025, with the objective of strengthening IP protection, streamlining examination procedures and practices, improving IP administration and information handling, and improving IP utilisation. Furthermore, the Joint Statement confirmed the parties' support for research projects conducted by the Economic Research Institute for ASEAN and East Asia (ERIA), particularly the studies entitled "Study on Branding" and "Study on Patent Examination Practices for Remarkable Technologies." Finally, the Partners acknowledged the report from the ASEAN-Japan Patent Experts Meeting, which highlighted discussions on enhancing transparency in emerging technologies like AI and IoT.