Participation in APAA 2024 Manila

Four members from our firm, Takanori TAMAI, Junichi YAMADA, Hiroyuki FUKE, and Asuka ASEGA attended the 76th APAA (Asian Patent Attorneys Association) Council Meeting held in Manila, Philippines, from Monday, November 18 to Thursday, November 21, 2024.

The APAA is the only international organization for intellectual property professionals in Asia.  However, not only members of Asian countries but also agents from Europe, the Middle East, Central and South America, and other regions can participate in the Council Meeting as observers.  This year, approximately 1,400 patent attorneys and lawyers attended the APAA Council Meeting, including about 400 observers.  This significant proportion of observers among the participants reflects the strong interest in the intellectual property landscape of Asia from countries outside the region.

The four members from our firm, divided into two pairs, built networks with participants from various countries and exchanged opinions and information on topics such as the acquisition of rights and the utilization of rights in each country.

We had a sense that the number of IP applications had been increasing as the impact of Covid-19 subsided and economic conditions improved in various countries.  However, through discussions with participants from various countries, we found that the situation was not uniform.  In some countries, economic activity has remained sluggish due to delays in restarting operations after Covid-19, leading to continued recessions and stagnant IP activities.  In other countries, while economic activity had improved, the Patent Offices had not kept pace, resulting in longer periods required for obtaining rights.

(That said, we observed that IP activities had been generally on the rise in many countries post Covid-19.)

In the future, we aim to continuously monitor the situation in each country, strengthen our collaboration with local agents, and actively seek opportunities for information exchange to enhance the quality of our intellectual property activities.

In anticipation of the next year's APAA annual meeting, scheduled to take place in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, in November 2025, our firm looks forward to participating actively in the discussions and exchanges.