Thirty-three years after a successful event in Tokyo, the International Association for the Protection of Intellectual Property (AIPPI) World Congress is scheduled to return to Japan this year, with more than 2,700 participants congregating in the port city of Yokohama from 13 to 16 September.
AIPPI president Lorenza Ferrari Hofer says that this year, the event’s highlights are the four key study questions: artificial intelligence and copyright; compulsory licences; exhaustion of trademark rights; and preliminary injunctions as part of damages.
Ferrari Hofer points to AI as a major topic in Asia and worldwide, with ongoing uncertainty about its legal and commercial implications.
The AIPPI president told Asia Business Law Journal that, while most countries are trying to regulate AI, these efforts are not harmonised.
“Global, harmonised legislation is needed, as AI transcends borders,” she said. “Growth depends on legislation that governs AI use and development. AI now drives research and data analysis across industries.”
Ferrari Hofer, who was elected AIPPI International president last year for a two-year term, also practises as a partner in the IP group and co-head of the life sciences group of Schellenberg Wittmer in Zurich, specialising in dispute resolution, IP, unfair competition, data law and contract law.
In December last year, South Korea’s National Assembly passed the Act on the Development of Artificial Intelligence and Establishment of Trust, marking the world’s second piece of comprehensive AI regulatory legislation following the EU’s Artificial Intelligence Act in May last year. Similar to the EU AI Act, South Korea’s AI Basic Act divides AI systems into high-impact and generative AI categories. South Korea has opted to introduce a legal regulatory framework rather than the EU, for instance, by not including provisions explicitly prohibiting certain AI types.
As South Korea’s neighbour and an Asian country with an active AI landscape, Japan enacted the Act on Promotion of Research and Development, and the Utilisation of AI-related Technology in May this year. The act establishes basic principles and a framework for the government to research, develop and use AI while mitigating risks. Unlike South Korea’s, which imposes fines of up to USD20,500 for violations, including transparency regulations for generative AI and the use of high-impact AI, Japan’s act includes no penalties. Instead, any use of AI that violates the rights and interests of others may be subject to administrative action, according to UK law firm Bird & Bird, which operates in Tokyo.
From an IP perspective, Ferrari Hofer said that the focus should be on establishing legal frameworks to allow protection by patents and copyrights and other IP rights while ensuring human involvement within AI applications, rather than fearing or banning the technology.
“AIPPI’s role is to analyse AI-related issues and provide guidance based on legal and regulatory factors, not political or economic interests,” she said.
Helping advance such efforts is a lineup of distinguished speakers at this year’s event, including: Japan Supreme Court Justice Mitsuko Miyagawa; Japan Patent Office commissioner Yasuyuki Kasai; and a senior judge with China’s Supreme People’s Court, Xu Zhuobin.
From the in-house legal sector, legal heads of global and regional multinational corporations will also speak at the event, including: Panasonic’s chief IP counsel, Andrew Yen; L’Oreal Group’s general counsel for IP and media, Delphine Chalvron; and Huawei Technologies’ Asia-Pacific intellectual property department head, David Wang. Sonderhoff & Einsel Law and Patent Office’s managing partner, Felix Einsel, and Abe & Partners’ managing partner, Takanori Abe, are among the speakers representing private practice.
While there is an emphasis on Japanese culture this year, including a panel on manga, Japan’s copyrighted creative works, Ferrari Hofer said the AIPPI’s 2024 to 2026 strategy aimed to broaden discussion and encourage engagement from all members and regions.
“Hosting congresses in Asia, like last year’s congress in Hangzhou and this year’s congress in Yokohama, hopefully makes attendance easier for the region. The strategy also includes expanding discussions via digital media,” she said.
The AIPPI is also making an effort to broaden Asian representation in its internal structure.
“To better represent AIPPI diversity, [we have] new bureau members from India, China and Australia, ensuring a strong Asian representation in the organisation’s structure,” she said.
AIPPI’s role is to analyse AI-related issues and provide guidance based on legal and regulatory factors, not political or economic interests
