On January 25, 2022, the Japan Patent Office (JPO) updated its web page with a section titled "The JPO Key Features" (see https://lnkd.in/d9XqGYGm). The JPO Key Features provide examination statistics on timelines for utility patents, design patents, and trademarks at the JPO.
Also, the website provides several JPO Guidelines.
Among these is quite possibly the most fun set of Guidelines on Patenting ever created: a "Manga Patent Examination Guidelines for the artificial intelligence (AI)/Internet Of Things (IoT) fields"!
Created by the JPO Examination Standards Office, the manga (which is an illustrated comic) "explains not only the characteristic determination aspects of AI and IoT-related technologies but also the basic concepts regarding patent examinations that are common to all technical fields." The JPO describes that "[t]his means it can help people who are unfamiliar with the basic concepts regarding patent examinations and want to learn about them. It can also help people who are interested in technical fields other than AI and IoT."
Overall the Manga Guidelines provide an excellent tool to help engage those interested in these technologies and IP law in general.
Now if we could only get a U.S. equivalent for the MPEP!
A link to the Manga Patent Examination Guidelines for AI/IoT may be found here: https://www.jpo.go.jp/e/system/laws/rule/guideline/patent/comic_ai_iot_e.html
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