Participation in APAA 2025 Kuala Lumpur

Annual Meeting of the APAA (Asian Patent Attorneys Association) in 2025 was held in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, from Friday, November 7 to Tuesday, November 11, 2025.  Three members from our firm, Hajime MATSUI, Hiroyuki FUKE, and Yuka SHINMYO, attended the event.

The APAA is an international organization for intellectual property attorneys in Asia, but agents from outside Asia, including Europe and the United States, can also participate as observers.  This year’s meeting attracted approximately 1,400 participants in total, including about 220 from Japan, about 170 from India, about 110 each from Korea and Taiwan, and about 30 from the United States.

We exchanged updates with our existing partner attorneys, while introducing ourselves to new attorneys with a view to future collaboration.  In addition to discussions on filing and prosecution, topics such as search services and the use of AI were also covered.  These conversations allowed us to recognize similarities and differences with Japan, providing valuable insights and inspiration.  With some of the attorneys we met for the first time, we have already begun concrete collaborations immediately after returning home, and the results of these exchanges are starting to bear fruit.

Going forward, we will continue to actively create opportunities for information exchange to strengthen our ties with attorneys abroad.

The next APAA Annual Meeting is scheduled to take place in Hong Kong in November 2026, and we look forward to participating again.