IP5, the world’s five largest intellectual property offices met on May 31st – June 1st 2017 in Valletta, Malta to review the achievements over the past 10 years and to decide the future direction of their initiatives.

Commonly referred to as the IP5, established in 2007, the co-operation group consists of the European Patent Office (EPO), the Japan Patent Office (JPO), the Korean Intellectual Property Office (KIPO), the State Intellectual Property Office of China (SIPO) and the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO). The IP5 has become an important platform for constructive dialogue between the offices and industry with a view to improving the IP5 patent systems in line with user expectations and needs.

The IP5 has released a joint statement from their meeting. Within this statement they highlight their vision of “patent harmonization of practices and procedures, enhanced work-sharing, high-quality and timely search and examination results, and seamless access to patent information to promote an efficient, cost-effective and user-friendly international patent landscape.”

Read the full IP5 Joint Statement: A new vision for IP5 co-operation at http://www.fiveipoffices.org/news/malta2017.html