Japan Patent Office Begins Recruitment for 'VC-IPAS' Program to Dispatch IP Experts to Venture Capitals

The Japan Patent Office (JPO) has begun accepting applications for the 'VC-IPAS' (VC collaborating on Intellectual Property Acceleration program for Startups). 1. Program Overview: This program dispatches intellectual property experts (hereinafter referred to as 'IP experts'), such as patent attorneys and lawyers, to venture capitals (hereinafter referred to as 'VCs') that support startups (through investment, management support, etc.). By providing support such as building IP strategies linked to business strategies for startups before and after investment, the program aims to accelerate the growth of startups. Furthermore, through this initiative, by having VCs collaborate with IP experts, the program also aims to improve the IP literacy and practical IP utilization capabilities of VCs. This fiscal year, we anticipate approximately 100 hours of dispatch time over about six months. If you are a VC interested in the purpose of this program, or a VC considering the use of intellectual property to enhance support for your portfolio startups, please consider applying. 2. Recruitment Overview: Application period: Until 23:59 on Monday, June 22, 2026. Number of companies to be selected: 13. Dispatch period: Late August 2026 to March 5, 2027. *The dispatch period is subject to change without notice. How to apply: (1) Please check the application guidelines and fill in the necessary items in the application form. (2) Please submit by email to the email address listed in '3. Contact Information' within the application period. *Applications by mail or fax are not accepted. ▼ You can download the application guidelines and application form here: https://www.jpo.go.jp/support/startup/document/vc-ipas-2026/obo_vc-ipas-2026.zip. ▼ For more details about the project, please refer to the VC-IPAS page on the JPO website: https://www.jpo.go.jp/support/startup/vc-ipas-2026.html. 3. Contact Information: VC-IPAS Secretariat (within Deloitte Tohmatsu LLC). In charge: Reina Takahashi, Kota Nakamura, Nana Nishida. Marunouchi Nijubashi Building, 3-2-3 Marunouchi, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo 100-0005. Email: vcipas-office@tohmatsu.co.jp