Japan Prime Minister Shinzo Abe received a proposal from his Liberal Democratic Party (LDP)'s Intellectual Property Strategy Investigation Committee on May 17. The Committee argued for an infrastructure that would enable universities' research to reach and be invested in by Japanese corporations. Abe voiced appreciation for the proposals and said the government would consider it in its promotion of the Japanese economy.
Akari Amari, who presented PM Abe with the proposal, connected it to PM Abe's "Abenomics" program, the three-stage attempt to rejuvenate the Japanese economy. Building on the first two steps (breaking free from deflation and intensive governmental investment in promising enterprises), Amari directed the IP proposals toward the final prong of Abenomics–an economic infrastructure that attracts private corporate investment and launches sustained private sector growth.
Mr. Amari argued that Japan's government should help, by its investment and guidance, to connect the technological "seeds" of universities (particularly public universities) to corporations with matching needs, and from there to the market (and global economy). Amari cited Google's relationship with Stanford University as a sample model of how Japanese companies and research institutions could be cooperating. He voiced hopes that universities partly funded by corporations would accelerate R&D for technology that would swell Japan's influence and growth in the future.
Meanwhile, the tone of the meeting seemed to reveal serious concern over Japan's place as a global economic power. Will Japan be able to raise up its own technology with its decreasing population (as Abe claimed when promoting "Fourth Industrial Revolution" and "Society 5.0" in June 2017)? Abe and Amari seem optimistic that it can, with the right governmental IP infrastructure investment. Whether or not, the still-large and aging population of Japan has investment opportunities for foreigners, and the research coming out of Japanese universities will certainly serve people in Japan and around the world (for example, through open innovation and related technology transfer, as well as through continued IP prosecution to Japan).
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Taro Yaguchi
Sources
Japan Prime Minister's Office. Video of Mr. Amari's presentation of proposal to Prime Minister Abe, May 17, 2018.
Sankei Biz. "安倍首相「成長戦略で技術革新を検討」 自民党の知財戦略調査会から提言受け取り [Prime Minister Abe will "plan for tehcnological revolution in growth strategy," receiving proposal from LDP IP strategy Investigation Committee]." May 17, 2018.
Prime Minister of Japan and His Cabinet. "アベノミクス「３本の矢」[Abenomics: "Three Arrows"]." Accessed May 22, 2018.
Prime Minister of Japan and His Cabinet. "アベノミクス 成長戦略で明るい日本に！ [Abenomics: A brighter Japan with a growth strategy!]." Accessed May 22, 2018. Thumbnail photograph from this page.
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