Japan aims to enhance intellectual property competitiveness via AI use

TOKYO, June 4 (Xinhua) -- The Japanese government plans to promote the use of artificial intelligence to enhance the country's competitiveness in the area of intellectual property.

The government's Intellectual Property Strategy Headquarters on Tuesday adopted the intellectual property strategy for 2025, in which the country aims to take advantage of the international popularity of Japanese anime and the content of such movies that highlights local culture to help promote regional economies and expects a total economic impact of around 1 trillion yen (about 7.0 billion U.S. dollars).

"Intellectual property is an important revenue source for Japan and plays a critical role in bolstering Japanese companies' competitiveness," Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba, who heads the headquarters, said at a meeting at his office.

"To create competitive intellectual properties, we will thoroughly reinforce AI utilization," Ishiba said.

Every year, the government compiles a documented program that outlines policies to protect and utilize intellectual property.

In the 2025 version, Japan will consider recognizing the patent rights of individuals who have developed AI used to create new technologies as rules are currently vague regarding how to evaluate contributions made by a developer of AI.

The new plan also stressed the need to attract top talent from abroad, while supporting human resources development and promoting public-private cooperation in fields such as energy and disaster prevention. Enditem