2019 Annual Report Intellectual Property Office

II.IPR EXAMINATIONS AND SERVICES Strengthening Examiners' Professionalism In addition to training programs for trademark examiners, TIPO provided refresher training programs for senior examiners for the first time. To strengthen examiners' interdisciplinary exchanges, TIPO invited domestic experts to give lectures on topics such as mediation experience, using ADR in IPs, and developing trend in virtual currency. TIPO also organized group study sessions on "exchange of opinions with the JPO on non-traditional trademarks" and "trademark examination practices in the US." Participating examiners exchanged feedback on "non-traditional trademarks," "procedure of trademark application," "distinctiveness," "deceptive marks," "confusion," "bad-faith registration," and other topics. Outstanding Examiner Award Ceremony Training Program for Trademark Examiners in 2019 practices. The Guidelines focus on matters such as decision-making standards, and consistency of examinations. On November 19, 2019, TIPO posted its Trademark Examination Quality Feedback Form on its website to facilitate future improvement of trademark examination quality. In addition, supervisors continued to use online dashboard to monitor and rectify examination procedures. As to strengthening random sampling of the work by certain examiners, the results will be provided to the same examiners for future improvement and hopefully to increase examination consistency and quality. • Trademark Examination Review Meetings To strengthen consistency of trademark examination and examiners' professional capability, TIPO regularly holds trademark examination review meetings to address the latest trademark issues, new developments of goods/services and commercial activities, and noteworthy matters in examination. By doing so, TIPO hopes to improve and manage the quality of trademark examinations. In 2019, the issues addressed include "Trademarks and International Nonproprietary Names (INN)" of WIPO, guidelines on examining trademarks containing the term "Reiwa," and unifying ways of presenting the names of local governments in Japan. These issues were discussed and relevant guidelines were ascertained at the meetings. • Review and Analysis of Revoked Dispute and Rejection Cases TIPO reviewed and analyzed dispute and rejection cases revoked annually by the Ministry of Economic Affairs and the IP Court. Analysis reports on the grounds of revocation were written and presented during monthly trademark examination review meetings, as well as in the Information Sessions on Trademark Act in 2019 to facilitate thorough communication with the public. 40