The Japan Patent Office Launched a Special Team to Review IoT

　　The JPO recently established several special teams comprised of approximately 50 examiners familiar with IoT technology who will evaluate the review process for IoT (Internet of Things) related inventions.

　　At the JPO the IoT division will be divided into further subdivisions and each subdivision will have a special team associated with the subdivision which will compile, analyze and share information related to the examination of the latest IoT related inventions within each subdivision.

　　In the future, the JPO expects the number of inventions and applications related to IoT to increase dramatically. Thus, the JPO feels that there is an urgent need to unify examination decisions related to IoT technology.

　　The Japanese Patent Office was the first in the word to establish a patent classification related to IoT and will also be the first to ascertain whether the newly established patent classification is fairly granted.

　　According to a joint announcement made by the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry and the JPO in May, the agencies have found that patent applications for IoT technology are increasing particularly in the automotive and healthcare fields.
　Since 2000, there has been a five-fold increase in the cumulative number in the automotive field and a four-fold increase in the healthcare field.

　Indeed, the number of patent applications for technologies spanning multiple fields has increased, and the number of patent applications for combinations of automobiles and maintenance services is the largest with about 4,200 applications.