From November 3 to 5, the TM5 (forum comprised of CNIPA, EUIPO, JPO, KIPO and USPTO) Annual Conference 2021 was hosted online by National Intellectual Property Administration. At the meeting, offices of five countries reached a consensus on the contents of the Joint Statement on Cooperation between TM5 in 2021. 

The joint statement highlights the determination to meet challenges, strengthen cooperation in digital and emerging technologies, promote brand cultivation, and promote business development and economic recovery under the continuous influence of the epidemic. The statement will be released upon completion of the approval procedures.

In the private session from November 3 to 4, participants discussed 16 ongoing cooperation projects, agreed to formally complete two projects involving comparative study of trademark examination results and acceptable names of goods and services, and approved the launch of two new projects aimed at improving the efficiency of internal file management of each office and enhancing the exchange of objections and reviews. The session also discussed the optimization of TM5 operation mechanism to promote more efficient cooperation in the future.

At the user meeting held on November 5th, the five offices reported the latest work progress and introduced the results of the private session. The five offices, together with more than 40 user representatives, focused on the issues in trademark field in the post-epidemic era, including the change of user application behavior, the impact of digital consumption on the trademark system, and the use of digitalization to improve the services of each office. The meeting enhanced users' understanding on TM5 cooperation, and also helped the five offices to further grip on users' opinions, and enabling tighter collaboration that brings benefits in the post-epidemic era.