Watch:
The world’s five major intellectual property offices have launched a new website to provide information on their joint projects. The European Patent Office (EPO) the Japan Patent Office (JPO), the Korean Intellectual Property Office (KIPO), the State Intellectual Property Office of the People’s Republic of China (SIPO), and the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO), also known as “IP5” agreed on a vision for work aiming at harmonizing the global environment for patent searches and examination and enabling work-sharing among the five offices.
The website, will contain news and background on ten joint “Foundation Projects”:
‘¢ Common Documentation (lead: EPO)
‘¢ Common Hybrid Classification (lead: EPO)
‘¢ Common Access to Search and Examination Results (lead: JPO)
‘¢ Common Application Format (lead: JPO)
‘¢ Common Training Policy (lead: KIPO)
‘¢ Mutual Machine Translation (lead: KIPO)
‘¢ Common Examination Practice Rules and Quality Management (lead: SIPO)
‘¢ Common Statistical Parameter System for Examination (lead: SIPO)
‘¢ Common Approach to Sharing and Documenting Search Strategies (lead: USPTO)
‘¢ Common Search and Examination Support Tools (lead: USPTO)
Source: www.epo.org/topics/news/2009/20091208a.html
Website: www.fiveipoffices.org