On October 15, 2019, the Eurasian Patent Office (EAPO) was visited by the delegation of Moscow office of the Japan External Trade Organization (JETRO), headed by Director Tetsuya Umetsu.

Welcoming the Japanese delegation, EAPO President Saule Tlevlessova defined the meeting as the beginning of a dialogue aimed at creating strong partnership relations with the view to increase the use of the Eurasian patent system by Japanese applicants for the protection of technologies in the Eurasian region.

President Tlevlessova provided statistics on the patent activity of Japanese applicants within the Eurasian patent system, spoke about the opportunities to accelerate the Eurasian patent procedure in accordance with the Patent Prosecution Highway (PPH) Pilot Programme between the Eurasian Patent Organization and the Japan Patent Office (JPO) and invited to pay more attention to the quality of the Eurasian patent examination.

Presenting the activity of the JETRO Moscow, Mr. Umetsu invited EAPO to participate in JETRO events organized for the representatives of Japanese companies with offices located in Moscow and St. Petersburg in order to raise awareness of the advantages of the Eurasian patent system.

The parties discussed the current integration processes in the Eurasian region and related challenges for Japanese companies, and noted the advantages of the regional approach in terms of patent protection of technologies.

Mentioning the Diplomatic Conference on the adoption of the Protocol on the Protection of Industrial Designs, held in Nur-Sultan on September 9, 2019 and attended by the Director of JETRO Tashkent Mr. Jun Takahashi, Mr. Tetsuya Umetsu presented the publication prepared by JETRO following the results of the Conference.