A seminar themed “Intellectual Property Rights (IPRs) Protection And Enforcement in Industry 4.0” took place in Ho Chi Minh City on October 10 to exchange experience between Vietnam and Japan in the field.

Co-organised by the Intellectual Property Office of Vietnam (IP Vietnam) and the Japan Patent Office (JPO), the event was the 8th of its kind since 2005.

Speaking at the function, Le Ngoc Lam, Deputy Director General of IP Vietnam, said an effective IP system is necessary amid the 4th Industrial Revolution.

He suggested Vietnam need to complete and renovate protection mechanisms targeting new areas emerging from the revolution like artificial intelligence (AI), the Internet of Things (IoT), 3D printing and nanotechnology, among others.

The enforcement capacity of IPRs in cyberspace is also important, Lam added.

The official said IP agencies should apply new technologies, particularly blockchain, big data, and AI, in their operations and push for regional and global patent cooperation.

Manabu Niki, head of the JPO’s international cooperation division, said in 2017, the JPO came up with a plan to apply AI in its classification of inventions and searching for technical conditions and brands.

In response to the booming of IoT in Japan, the agency has added examples of the technology in its assessment manual and set up an IoT assessment team, he noted.