This project proposes a review of the policy instruments that Japan and other major jurisdiction employ to promote the development of big data.

Following preparatory functional comparison, the PI and the Co-Investigators have given presentations about big data protection at various international conferences / workshops and received feedback. We currently do a number of informal surveys, which will again be reflected at further conferences.
The PI and Co-Investigator Ueno hosted two workshops and a large-scale international conference (co-hosted with Columbia Law School and HKU School of Law) on copyright law and privacy law in the digital economy in June 2022. Prior to that, the PI gave a talk on big data protection at the LawTech Consortium Conference at McGill University in Montreal, Canada. In August, Co-Investigator Suzuki gave a talk on data protection at the ATRIP Annual Conference hosted in Tokyo. The PI and co-investigator Ueno hosted a number of workshops during the fall of 2023 that touched on aspects such as AI and moral rights. The PI and Co-Investigator Suzuki hosted another conference, this time on patent law in December 2023. Finally, the PI published a book chapter on big data protection with Springer.
The progress in the AY 2023 was very satisfactory. We were able to convert the workshop that was planned for AY 2022 into a large conference that attracted top speakers from the US and Asia (https://www.rclip.jp/events/copyright-roundtable2024) and impacted policy makers and academics inside and outside Japan significantly. Waseda IP law researchers had a very strong representation at the ATRIP Conference in Tokyo in summer 2023 (the top global academic IP law conference, with four presentations, three of them directly related to the Kaken project), showcasing that our IP law faculty is developing into the strongest research faculty in Japan. And we hosted three international lectures (more than expected) in the fall of AY 2023 in addition to our Global Patent Law Conference.
The PI obtained an additional Kaken grant (国際共同研究加速基金) that will be used to complement the research on data protection law and policy by looking into various elements of AI and IP. The PI and co-investigator Suzuki will co-host an international conference that will focus on different aspects of big data protection (as well as on the eligibility of AI-related inventions) in May 2024. The PI will continue to present related research at international conferences, and publish findings as they emerge.