On August 9, 2018, the Japan Patent Office (JPO) assigned a new position titled “Chief Design Officer” (hereinafter referred to as the “CDO”) and a new team titled “Design-Driven Management Project Team” under the supervision of the CDO aiming to improve JPO services. Through these actions, the JPO will renovate its services from a user perspective, to improve friendliness to a wide variety of users, and to support enhancement of effective use of intellectual property as a source of competitiveness in global markets.  (METI website)