Overview:

The seminar will first of all offer an update as to how the European Unitary Patent system is expected to get into force in the first half of 2019, making the protection of inventions in Europe simpler and better while enabling inventors to protect their invention in EU countries by submitting one single patent application. The Unitary Patent system will ensure a high quality of granted patents and it is believed that the Unitary Patent protection will certainly stimulate growth, and further investments in innovation and R&D.
The European Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) came into force on 25th May 2018, in all member states to harmonize data privacy laws across Europe. As the most important change in privacy regulation in the past 20 years, we saw the entry into force of the GDPR as a means of unifying separate rules within the EU and giving EU residents more control over how their data are being processed. The GDPR does not only apply to organizations located within the EU but also to organizations located outside of the EU in case they offer goods or services to, or monitor the behavior of EU residents. The main topic that will be covered in this regard will be an overview of the current situation in terms of implementation of the regulation in the EU after six months from its entry into force.

Lastly, the final part of the seminar will highlight a round-up of the most important intellectual property-related decisions from the EU and Japan, and lead to a panel discussion where all the themes covered during the presentations will be further analyzed and discussed.
 

Programme:

14:00-14:15 Welcome and opening remarks by Mr. Francesco Fini, Deputy Head of the EU Delegation to Japan, Mr.Fabrizio Mura, Executive Adviser to EU-side General Manager, EU-Japan Center for Industrial Cooperation

Presentation Sessions

14:15-14:45 "Update on the Unitary Patent System"
Speaker: Mr. Jesper Kongstad, Former Director General of the Danish Patent Office & Vice Chairman of the Board of Zacco

14:45-14:50 Q & A

14:50-15:25 "GDPR – The First Six Months"
Speaker: Mr. Daniel Schwarz, CEO, IT-Deutschland Global Business Solutions K.K - Certified Data Protection Officer

15:25-15:30 Q & A

15:30-15:45 Coffee break

15:45-16:05 "Roundup of Recent Important IP-related Decisions in Japan" (in Japanese)
Speaker: Mr. Kengo Sakai, Attorney at Law, Sonderhoff & Einsel

16:05-16:30 "Roundup of Recent Important IP-related Decisions in the EU"
Speaker: Mr. Hajo Peters, Patent Attorney, Senior Executive Partner, Director, Zacco Europe

16:30-16:35 Q & A

16:35-17:15 Panel Discussion
Moderator: Mr. Luca Escoffier, Project Manager, EU-Japan Technology Transfer Helpdesk - EU-Japan Centre for Industrial Cooperation
Panelists:
Mr. Jesper Kongstad
Mr. Daniel Schwarz
Mr. Kengo Sakai
Mr. Hajo Peters

17:15-17:20 Closing Remarks by Mr. Gabriele Lo Monaco, First Secretary, Trade and Economic Section, Delegation of the European Union to Japan

17:20-19:00 Networking Reception