OSAKA -- Local government and business leaders from the Kansai region gathered April 21 to officially inaugurate the area's largest depository of domestic and international patent information.
Those on hand at the tape-cutting ceremony for the Kansai Patent Information Center in Osaka's Tennoji district included Osaka Gov. "Knock" Yokoyama and Kansai Economic Federation chief Tetsuro Kawakami. Opened April 1, the four-story center contains official patent reports from Japan, Europe and the U.S. Its purpose is to provide researchers and the public with access to patent information as well as to conduct training programs related to patents and innovations.
The center consists of four separate organizations, all of which cooperate to provide patent information. The organizations include the Kinki Bureau of International Trade and Industry patent office, the Japan Institute of Invention and Innovation's Osaka branch, the Japan Patent Attorneys Association's Osaka office and the Osaka Prefectural Patent Information Center.