Japan’s IPO GREEN is a vital resource for all SME’s. Japan has played a leading role in promoting Green Patent Technology and sharing – in Japan and globally. Two recent announcements involve World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) Green and another global initiative that includes participating Intellectual Property Offices (IPO) known as IPO Green. This article focuses on IPO Green – the source materials being WIPO and the JPO. Please see Kimura & Partners reporting on other Green Patent initiatives globally.
Intellectual Property Offices are key actors in green innovation ecosystems, say the JPO. A telling comment by the JPO indeed.
IPO GREEN is an initiative that supports IP Offices to enact green policies and programs. Here are the associated resources. Launched in 2022 with funding from the Japan Patent Office, “the initiative brings IP Offices together to share their experiences and insights. It also provides research and analysis about IP Offices’ activities that help to stimulate the development and deployment of new green technology solutions. Intellectual Property Offices are key actors in green innovation ecosystems. They deliver patents and other intellectual property (IP) rights, provide services and guidance to entrepreneurs, and publish data and analysis. With the green transition rapidly becoming a priority for governments everywhere, IP Offices work in concert with other agencies to deliver on green goals. Their role typically involves programming to support green innovation and effective IP management by entrepreneurs working in this space.”
Recently, Kimura & Partners’s also reported on the JPO announcement of the new Green Patent Database GXTI. Its purpose is primarily to improve corporate environmental governance in Japan. However, the JPO also stated the benefit of “Making comparisons with other companies in terms of technology categories in the GXTI might also be useful for planning their business strategy and patent strategy.”
So we believe that these recent trends of establishing accessible portals and databases of local and global “Green patents” is a step forward not only in climate change initiatives, but also in assisting environmental product or service company SME’s in becoming more competitive.
Spotlight: IP Office Initiative Links
IP Offices have already launched a broad range of policies and programs to accelerate the green transition. Below are links to very useful summary descriptions of such initiatives .
Accelerated Patent Prosecution
Provision of Green Data and Analysis by the IP Office
Matchmaking and Business Rounds
Regional Cooperation on Green IP Matters
Joint Initiatives with WIPO GREEN
Classification Systems for Green Technology Solutions
Training Government Officials about Green Innovation
Green Patent Prosecution Highways
Financial Support for Green Patent Applications
IP Awareness Raising Activities
Upcycling Program for Counterfeit Goods
Awards for Green Technology Innovation
Summary Comment
Kimura & Partners’ focus is on SME’s and helping SMEs win in the IP Battleground. Japan’s IPO GREEN is a vital resource for all SME’s. We see the WIPO GREEN, IPO GREEN and the GXTI as useful resources for all companies, including SME’s in developing and improving their IP and business strategy. So we also expect WIPO GREEN to be a valuable resource in helping us guide clients, and their IP and business strategies.
