BEIJING, Apr.15 (SIPO) -- The fifteenth meeting of IP5 Deputy Heads of Office was successfully held at the Japan Patent Office (JPO) on March 22 to 23, 2016. Deputy Commissioner of State Intellectual Property Office of P.R.C. (SIPO) He Zhimin, Vice-President of the European Patent Office (EPO) Raimund Lutz, Deputy Commissioner of the Korean Intellectual Property Office (KIPO) Young Dae Lee, and Deputy Director of the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) Russell Slifer attended the meeting as head of their delegation. Deputy Director General of the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) John Sandage also participated as an observer. The meeting was chaired by Masayuki Koyanagi, Deputy Commissioner of JPO.

The meeting of IP5 Deputy Heads of Office is a high-ranking meeting for IP5 cooperation. It carries out the responsibility of monitoring the reports from working groups, offering guidance, and making preparations for the meeting of IP5 Heads of Office. During the meeting, the IP5 deputy heads listened to the groups’ reports of their work progress and achievements in the past year, held discussion on global dossier, examination rules and quality management, the patent prosecution highway (PPH), the PCT collaborative search and examination, and topics mentioned on the meeting of Patent Harmonization Experts Panel (PHEP). In addition, they also approved some of the working results which will be submitted to the meeting of IP5 Heads of Office scheduled in June, and discussed on the joint statement which is scheduled to be signed on that meeting.

Before the meeting of IP5 Deputy Heads of Office, SIPO Deputy Commissioner He Zhimin and EPO Deputy Director Raimund Lutz held talks, during which they summarized the progress of the related cooperative projects. They also exchanged views on projects of common concern, such as the patent information data. Besides, Mr. He Zhimin also met with JPO Deputy Commissioner Masayuki Koyanagi during the meeting. The delegations also participated in the unofficial consultations held by the temporary PHEP and staffs working on the PCT collaborative search and examination projects respectively.