International liaison
Throughout 2021, CIPA’s International Liaison Committee (ILC) continued its work in strenghtening partnerships with important partner organisations in key IP markets around the world via a programme of events. As travel was not possible, the committee renewed its efforts through a series of virtual roundtables and webinars.
The year offered a unique opportunity to provide more education sessions and reach a greater variety of regions despite being unable to visit in person. The virtual events the committee produced were so successful and the audiences so large that the committee decided to continue to hold virtual events in addition to in-person meetings in future.
Japan
ILC held several events with the Japan Patent Attorneys Association (JPAA). In January, members of the Japan Working Group presented a webinar on Oral Proceedings at the European Patent Office (EPO) via videoconferencing (vico) alongside EPO examiners. The webinar was attended by JPAA members and was the first in the series of international vico talks.
In March, the working group organised a roundtable and seminar with JPAA. During the roundtable Japan Working Group members met with members of JPAA’s European Practice Working group to discuss the future of the UK and Japanese professions and provide updates on AI-related inventions at the EPO. Speakers presented to the rest of the JPAA membership on understanding the requirement of Enablement in the UK, revised guidelines for examination in the EPO and AI-related inventions at the EPO. JPAA’s audience was pleased with the content of both webinars and ILC looks forward to an in-person visit in 2022.
South Korea
In March, the South Korean working group met with members of the Korean Patent Attorneys Association (KPAA) and Korea Intellectual Property Association (KINPA) for a roundtable discussion on updates to Brexit and the UPC and AI-related inventions at the EPO.
Delegates from KPAA were due to visit the UK in December, however, due to changes in COVID restrictions, this was rescheduled for 2022.
Taiwan
In October, members of the committee presented to members of the Taiwan Patent Attorneys Association (TWPAA) on patents, trade marks and designs post-Brexit and the impact of COVID-19 on the trend of European Patent applications. This was the first virtual event held with TWPAA and the Taiwan and Hong Kong working group will be holding more events in 2022.
North America
A webinar on UK expertise in oral proceedings by vico at the EPO was held for members of the US Intellectual Property Owners Association in January.
In June, the North America working group held a roundtable with members of the American Intellectual Property Law Association (AIPLA). The roundtable featured discussions on updates to trade deals, video conferencing, and G1-19. The roundtable included a networking session using breakout rooms and was attended by senior members of AIPLA. This is the second virtual event held with AIPLA and the committee looks forward to an in-person visit in 2022.
In December, the working group also held a roundtable with senior members of the Intellectual Property Institute of Canada (IPIC). The roundtable included discussions on oral proceedings by video conferencing at the EPO and updates to the EPO guidelines. IPIC council members presented on Changes to Office Practice on Patentability of Subject Matter, the Opening of CPATA, and updates on Canadian patent cases.
The North America working group hopes to be able to travel to the US in 2022 for an in-person roundtable with American and Canadian IP groups.
South America
CIPA held its first international event in partnership with the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO). ILC members, CIPA President Alicia Instone and Adam Williams from the Intellectual Property Office (IPO) joined WIPO for a High-Level Regional Webinar for Latin America.
CIPA speakers presented on video conferencing at the EPO, the impact of Brexit on IP rights and practices and substantive patent examination. The webinar was attended by around 100 delegates, including a number of high-profile figures from the Latin American IP community. ILC plans to hold more regional events with WIPO in 2022.
Ted Su
Chair of International Affairs Committee
Taiwan Patent Attorneys Association
During this challenging time due to the pandemic, it is more important than ever to stay connected with one another in the global IP community. It was a great pleasure for TWPAA to hold a joint webinar with CIPA in October 2021.
We were pleased to hear from CIPA’s brilliant speakers, covering a variety of interesting and insightful topics in IP practice of UK and Europe. The webinar was a grand success thanks in no small part to the outstanding work and efforts from CIPA. We sincerely look forward to working with CIPA on more events in 2022, and hopefully, we can meet in person in the not too distant future.