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Joint Strategic Plan on Intellectual Property Enforcement Promoting Efficient Patent Systems Bilateral cooperative agreements between the USPTO and foreign intellectual property offices have served as an effective mechanism for enhancing patent systems through capacity building, training, and sharing of best practices. These agreements enable dissemination of technical knowledge, enhancement of institutional expertise, and understanding of accepted standards to promote patent system improvements. By way of example, the USPTO and the Mexican Institute of Industrial Property (IMPI) renewed a Memorandum of Understanding on April 12, 2016, institutionalizing the exchange of technical expertise for purposes of strengthening each country’s patent system. studies that explore each jurisdictions’ laws and the policies underpinning differing practices. The USPTO is also exploring other ways to increase prosecution efficiencies. Together with their IP5 partners, the USPTO has begun working on the possible alignment of certain office procedures, including procedures involving unity of invention, citation of prior art, and written description. Work on these topics is intended to drive towards convergence on a procedural level, which will then complement the work that IP5 is doing on work sharing and other technical matters. ACTION NO. 4.12: Facilitate capacity building and technical assistance. USPTO will continue to engage with counterpart offices on providing targeted training, technical expertise, and information sharing to improve the patent systems in key markets abroad. SECTION 4 In order to maximize work sharing efficiencies, the USPTO is working with partner offices around the world to promote harmonization of key patent issues; namely, the definition and scope of prior art, the grace period, and publication of applications. Practically speaking, the success of work sharing hinges on the ability of patent examiners to examine applications based on foreign work products in an efficient and comprehensive manner. Harmonization of patent examination aspects of patent law complements work sharing by making the work product of one office (i.e., search and examination reports) more reliable for use by another office in examining a corresponding application. More reliability instills greater confidence in the quality of the work product, which, in turn translates to more effective reuse, in terms of work avoided, by the later examining office. To advance discussions on substantive patent law harmonization, a group of like-minded countries known as Group B+ has been working together to explore how to best make progress. In 2015, the Group published an Objectives and Principles Document, which includes higher level objectives for the patent system and principles directed to specific issues relevant to patentexamination. The Group has also issued a number of ACTION NO. 4.13: Support the Patent Prosecution Highway (PPH) System. USPTO will seek new PPH partnerships, as necessary and appropriate, and will enhance existing PPH arrangements to promote greater efficiency in the international patent system. ACTION NO. 4.14: Continue working to advance substantive patent law harmonization. USPTO will continue to work with its counterpart offices and with stakeholders to advance discussions on substantive patent law harmonization to promote more efficient patent prosecution and more effective work sharing internationally. b. Promoting Effective, Transparent, and Predictable Patent Systems. The absence of effective, transparent and predictable patent rights and policies reduce incentives for robust research and development efforts, undermines innovation, and hamper job growth prospects. The U.S. supports and encourages efforts which provide transparency and predictability with respect to patent rights and policies, thus preserving the incentives that ensure access to, and dissemination of, the fruits of innovation and creativity. This is described further in USTR’s Special 301 Reports. 138
Office of the Intellectual Property Enforcement Coordinator The increased globalization of trade, coupled with the intricacy of doing business in or with countries around the world, have given rise to an ever increasingly complex set of regulations and regulatory structures. Nontransparent—or worse, arbitrary—practices have the potential to hinder research and development, market access, foreign direct investments and other expenditures, especially in innovative technologies impacting agriculture, medical, and computer—related fields. These practices make it challenging to secure and enforce patents and other intellectual property rights critical to fostering innovation, economic growth, and global competitiveness. Patent Policy and Transparency In 2015, China “unveiled proposals in the pharmaceuticals sector that seek to promote government-directed indigenous innovation and technology transfer through the provision of regulatory preferences….[A] State Council measure issued in final form without having been made available for public comment calls for expedited regulatory approval to be granted to innovative new drugs where the applicant’s manufacturing capacity has been shifted to China.” similar investors seeking access to a market must have adequate information on new and revised regulations so that they can base their decisions on accurate assessment of potential costs, risks and market opportunities. However, as the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) has explained in its 2016 Special 301 Report, lack of transparency in IP-related rulemaking continues to be a problem as some foreign government regulatory agencies fail to make drafts of new rules widely and adequately available for public comment in the first instance, or fail to ensure that laws and regulations are administered in a uniform, impartial and reasonable manner. When the latest U.S. patented technology is infringed abroad because of lax patent protection and unpredictable legal standards, it threatens innovative economies worldwide. It is imperative that when formulating policies to promote innovation, all stakeholders must take account of the increasingly crossborder nature of commercial research and development, and champion transparent and fair practices. Ensuring open market access and effective intellectual property enforcement are indispensable for continued innovation and growth of the global economy. Source: USTR Report to Congress on China’s WTO Compliance (Dec. 2015), p. 9 As the OECD has summarized, transparency is primarily understood in the international investment policy community “as making relevant laws and regulations publicly available, notifying concerned parties when laws change and ensuring uniform administration and application,” and for other practitioners “it may also involve offering concerned parties the opportunity to comment on new laws and regulations, communicating the policy objectives of proposed changes, allowing time for public review and providing a means to communicate with relevant authorities.” 39 Essentially, transparency and stakeholder participation “allow governments to avoid unintended consequences and facilitate stakeholder compliance with legislative and regulatory changes.” 40 It is particularly the case that foreign firms and ACTION NO. 4.15: Support efforts to strengthen promotion of transparent and fair trade practices. USTR and the USPTO, in collaboration with the relevant members of the U.S. Interagency Strategic Planning Committees on IP Enforcement, will continue to promote and enhance efforts to advance transparent and fair trade practices related to intellectual property, including by bilateral and multilateral discussions prioritizing these issues; facilitating workshops with trading partners focusing on best practices that provide fair and equitable market access; and considerations for effective enforcement of intellectual property rights. c. Enhancing Effectiveness of Design Systems Abroad. As U.S. companies and designers continue to expand products into foreign markets, it is important for the U.S. to also promote strong and effective design protection and enforcement worldwide, reflecting the importance of design innovation to economic growth. SECTION 4 139
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U.S. JOINT STRATEGIC PLAN ON INTELL
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B. In Furtherance of a Healthy Doma
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PREAMBLE A Reflection on Creativity
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INTRODUCTION IP-intensive industrie
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1 THE GLOBAL SCALE OF INTELLECTUAL
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INTRODUCTION The story of intellect
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SECTION 2 CONTENTS HELPING TO PROMO
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