Patent law developments in Japan

Today we are in the midst of the Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR), where technology is affecting almost all aspects of life. We are seeing proliferation of the internet of things (IoT), big data analysis, 3D printing and artificial intelligence (AI), among other technologies, and progress itself is becoming faster and faster.

As the World Economic Forum so aptly states: “Today, radical system-wide innovation can happen in only a few years.” With such rapid technological advancements occurring all around us, legal platforms must also revolutionize to remain effective. Japan is tackling 4IR head on. Various proactive efforts are being made by its government, and by public organizations, to provide an efficient legal platform to continue to effectively protect intellectual property (IP).

Fourth Industrial Revolution

From a legal standpoint, we are seeing industries that had no competition to each other 20 years ago competing and negotiating with each other for the application of internet technology and analysis of big data by AI, to name a few.