On June 3, 2022, the Japanese government announced its Intellectual Property Strategic Program 2022. The Intellectual Property Strategic Program sets out the government’s policies and future actions for promoting the creation, protection and exploitation of intellectual property in a focused and systematic manner. It is discussed and decided every year by the Intellectual Property Strategy Headquarters, an organization established in the Cabinet since 2003 and chaired by the Prime Minister.
The main target of the Intellectual Property Strategic Program 2022 is to transform the economy and society so that motivated individuals and players can fully utilize intellectual properties and intangible assets existing in the society. The following eight policies have been considered important therein as Japan’s current IP strategy: (1) strengthen the IP ecosystem for startups and universities, (2) strengthen mechanisms to promote investment in and utilization of IP and intangible assets, (3) promote strategic use of international standards, (4) improve environments for data distribution and utilization for the realization of a digital society, (5) develop strategies for digital contents, (6) strengthen IP utilization by small and medium-sized enterprises / in local regions and areas / in the field of agriculture, forestry and fisheries, (7) strengthen systems, operations and human resource infrastructure supporting IP utilization, and (8) rebooting Cool Japan in anticipation of the post-COVID world. Read more