Mr. Joan Salvà, a managing director with the Spanish IP firm PONTI& PARTNERS visited us this week. He was kind enough to update us on some recent changes involving non-use cancellations and nullity actions in Spain, as well as giving us a brief presentation on recent cases of note within the EU. We also discussed Japan’s recent adoption of a letter-of-consent system, a well as how our two patent offices tend to differ with respect to the registrability of single and two-letter trademarks.

Mr. Ning Yue and Mr. Jialai Yuan from the Fairsky Law Office (China) were kind enough to visit our firm last week. Along with sharing updates on our respective firms, they also discussed a recent decision in the TATA Wooden Door Case.

Ms. Meng Wang and Ms. Luqi Wang from the Seijo-issin IP agency (China) were kind enough to visit our firm. Their firm recently had a big Tenth Anniversary celebration here in Tokyo. They provided us with some insight into recent Chinese Law revisions as well as advice on how to avoid or overcome Office Actions relating to (misleading) descriptions of goods as well as points to consider when filing anonymous cancelation actions.

We had the pleasure of hosting Mr. Chang-Oh Ryu from the Korean firm of Kim & Chang. Along with providing each other with updates on our mutual firms, Mr. Ryu was also kind enough to discuss with us some details and experiences concerning the recently adopted letter-of-consent system in Korea that was enacted from May of 2024, particularly in light of Japan’s recent implementation of a similar system.

We were happy to host Mr. Miku H. Mehta from the US-based law firm Procopio. We exchanged information about our prospective firms, and Mr. Mehta was kind enough to provide us with information on points to consider when filing declarations of use with respect to trademarks, as well as recent important trends and decisions affecting the filing of design patents. He also explained in detail the USPTO’s proposed increases in official fees, which are expected to take effect in 2025.