The Japan Patent Office (JPO) and the intellectual property (IP) offices of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Member States held the Eleventh Japan-ASEAN Heads of Intellectual Property Offices Meeting via video conference on August 2, 2021. During the meeting, participants agreed on the FY2021 Japan-ASEAN IP Rights Action Plan. Additionally, the Economic Research Institute for ASEAN and East Asia (ERIA) reported the results of their study on patent examination practices of AI inventions at the individual IP offices of ASEAN Member States.

ASEAN Member States have been advancing efforts to improve the IP environment in the ASEAN region in accordance with the ASEAN Intellectual Property Rights Action Plan 2016-2025, which was formulated under the framework of the ASEAN Working Group on Intellectual Property Cooperation (AWGIPC).

JPO has been cooperating in various ways over the years to support such efforts among ASEAN countries. The Eleventh Japan-ASEAN Heads of Intellectual Property Offices Meeting aimed to further deepen Japan-ASEAN cooperation in the IP field.

JPO will further enrich mutual cooperation with ASEAN IP offices by holding top-level conferences and expert meetings, and will proactively advance efforts for the development of IP systems in ASEAN Member States.