East meets West 2010

The EPO's Asian Patent Information Services is offering training courses, covering at least some of the content that had originally been scheduled for this year's "East meets West":

• "Asian patent systems and free databases" (Vienna, 6-7 September 2010)
• "Understanding the world's major patent classification schemes" (Vienna, 8 September 2010)

Cancelled!

East meets West 2010 has been cancelled due to flight disruptions caused by the volcanic ash cloud.

For more information, please contact:

Asian Patent Information Services
Tel.: +43 1 52126 4545
e-mail: asiainfo@epo.org 

 

Japan, China and Korea are all among the five top patenting nations in the world, making Asia one of today's important innovation hubs. For patent searchers worldwide accessing and understanding patent information from Asia has become a must.

The EPO's "East meets West" forum provides an ideal platform for patent information users who:

• need to know about the latest database offerings in the field of Asian patent data,
• are looking for an opportunity to meet experts from Asia and Europe,
• want to gain new insights, share experiences or simply get inspiration from colleagues and other patent information users.

This year's "East meets West" forum will take a close look at the progress achieved in Asian patent data collections and at the roles that patent offices, commercial providers and the patent information user community play in making these collections widely available.

The forum will also:

• spotlight the latest developments in Indian patent information,
• compare the IP situation in India and China,
• introduce the patent system in Malaysia.

For further details please contact asiainfo@epo.org.

Call for papers

If you are a commercial provider and interested in a speaking opportunity in the plenary session on 22 April 2010, you are invited to submit an abstract for a speech on "The commercial sector's role in providing Asian patent information to European users".

IPR2 stakeholder briefing and networking session

For the first time, alongside this year's forum, participants are invited to a stakeholder briefing and networking session on EU-China co-operation on IP protection on Thursday, 22 April 2010. Read more.

"East meets West 2010" in more detail:

Thursday, 22 April 2010: plenary session with presentations

Focus on Asian patent data collections

In recent years, there has been considerable progress in the coverage of Asian patent data in public and commercial databases. How has this affected the work of patent examiners and patent searchers? How accessible exactly is Asian patent information for patent practitioners today? How do patent offices and commercial data providers see their roles in making Asian patent data easier to access and understand? What does the user community expect and how can users contribute to improving the situation? These are some of the key questions that will be addressed in the plenary session of East meets West 2010.

Country focus

A new country to the forum this year is Malaysia. The presentation on Malaysia will look at the legal framework for patent protection and give an overview of patent information dissemination in Malaysia. India has recently moved into the spotlight for patent information users. Following last year's presentation on the Indian Patent Office's recent achievements and further modernisation plans, this year's forum will hear more on the latest developments with respect to patent information offerings on the IP India website.

The final presentation of the day will compare the IP situation in China and India, the two most important emerging markets in Asia.

Friday, 23 April 2010: product presentations, poster session, discussion rounds

Day 2 of the forum will start with a series of short product presentations by commercial data providers from Asia and Europe. A poster session during a long coffee break will provide further opportunities for informal discussions with providers of Asian patent information about new search possibilities and features of their services.

If you are a data provider and would like to participate in the poster session or give a  commercial presentation, please visit the poster session page to find more information.

After the poster session, smaller break-out sessions will provide an opportunity for informal exchanges on specific topics. These discussion rounds will pick up and explore further some of the key issues that came out of last year's forum as well as introducing new topics relevant for patent information users.

The discussion topics will include:

• Asian patent documentation
• Common Hybrid Classification
• the new Chinese patent law in practice
• cross-language searches
• the challenges of traditional knowledge
• Asian legal status information

Use these discussion rounds for getting answers to your questions or to bring your patent information needs to the attention of patent offices' representatives and other experts from Asia.

The "East meets West" virtual forum gives further details on the topics, and will be hosting a pre-conference discussion among experts and other users.

Venue

The "East meets West" forum will take place at the "Austria Trend Hotel Savoyen Vienna". The hotel is situated on Rennweg, only five minutes from the EPO's office and within walking distance from the city centre of Vienna. For more detailed information please go to the hotel website.

Pre-forum activities on 21 and 22 April 2010

For first-time participants and those who would like an update, we are offering training courses and an introductory session in the run-up to the forum.

Training sessions on Wednesday, 21 April 2010

Classification matters: understanding the world's major patent classification schemes: Understanding of classification systems, including IPC, ECLA, USPC and the special Japanese classification systems FI and F-terms. Participants will learn how to apply these systems in an optimal way in their Asian patent searches.  

Advanced features of free Asian databases: Practical tips on how to make the most of the free patent information sources of the major Asian patent offices. Participants will be able to explore advanced features of the free internet databases of the JPO, SIPO, KIPO and TIPO themselves in hands-on exercises.

Introductory session on Thursday, 22 April 2010

Another opportunity for getting into the spirit of the forum is the introductory session on the morning of 22 April. Following positive feedback last year, we will once again use this session to highlight the differences and similarities between the European patent system and those in Asia.

Please go to the training and introductory sessions page to see further details and the abstracts of the sessions.

IPR2 stakeholder briefing and networking session onThursday, 22 April 2010

"Results and perspectives 2010: Third year of China's national IP strategy, third year of IPR2 co-operation"

As an alternative to the introductory session, interested participants at East meets West 2010 are invited to join a stakeholder briefing and networking session on EU-China co-operation on IP protection, which will be held at the Austria Trend Hotel Savoyen on the morning of 22 April 2010.

The EU-China Project for the Protection of Intellectual Property Rights - IPR2 - enters its third year of implementation in China in April 2010. At the same time, China is moving into a third year of its national IP strategy. This session will highlight results and priorities of this joint technical assistance project and provide an update on IPR protection and enforcement in China in various areas (patents, copyrights, trade marks, etc).

IPR2 targets the reliability, efficiency and accessibility of the IP protection system, towards a sustainable environment for effective IPR enforcement in China. Input from stakeholders in Europe is essential to the work of the IPR2 Project; this session will welcome contributions and feedback from the wider IP community.

More details on the IPR2 stakeholder briefing and networking session will become available soon. For information see IPR2 website.

Use this form to register for e-mail alerts about "East meets West 2010" or contact the EPO's Asian patent information service at asiainfo@epo.org.

Past events

East meets West 2009

East meets West 2008