Top > What's up around the Prime Minister > September, 2006

Prime Minister Observes the Japan Patent Office Thursday, September 14, 2006 JAPANESE Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi observed the Japan Patent Office (JPO). Various measures have been advanced rapidly since Prime Minister Koizumi referred to the importance of intellectual property and helped establish the concept of a nation built on intellectual property in his policy speech to the 154th Session of the Diet, the first incumbent prime minister to do so. These measures include the enactment of the Basic Law on Intellectual Property, the establishment of the Intellectual Property Policy Headquarters, and the promotion of annual intellectual property strategic programs. Prime Minister Koizumi observed the JPO, the core office for these measures, to confirm their status of progress. Visiting the division in charge of patent examinations, Prime Minister Koizumi experienced a patented technology established by Japan that enables people to practice musical instruments at home even at night. This technology allows the sound of instruments such as brass instruments like the trumpet and others like the violin to be heard only by their players in the actual volume, while muting the sound in the surrounding environment. Prime Minister Koizumi demonstrated his performance of the violin. After that he was briefed on the current situation of the examinations for these patent technologies. At the division in charge of design examination, Prime Minister Koizumi was explained about the tremendous efforts made by manufacturers for designing their products. He then compared the original and counterfeit products such as motorbikes, pens, and pet bottles. On his impression, Prime Minister Koizumi said, "It is hard to tell them apart," making his recognition afresh for the importance of intellectual property protection. Afterwards, Prime Minister Koizumi observed the relief images of Japan's ten greatest inventors and a bust of the first JPO commissioner, former Prime Minister Korekiyo Takahashi, exhibited on the first floor of JPO.