Japanese Patent System

1. Procedures for getting Patent in Japan
* (a) Filing a patent application
* (b) Filing a request for examination
* (c) Filing Remarks and/or Amendment if receiving a "Notification of Reasons for Refusal"(i.e. Office Action)
* (d1) Pay Patent registration fee if receiving a "Decision to grant a patent"(i.e. Allowance)
* (d2) Filing Appeal if receiving a "Decision of Refusal", or abandon

2. Patent Application
* Language of applications is Japanese. However, English applications are acceptable if Japanese translations are filed within 2 months as of the filing date.
* Provisional applications are not acceptable in Japan.

3. Request For Examination
* Request For Examination can only be filed within 3 years as of the filing date. No extension.

4. Requirements of Patentablity
* (a) Novelty -- Patent Law SS29
* (b) Inventive Step -- Patent Law SS29
* (c) Industrial Applicability -- Patent Law SS29 and SS2
* (d) Without disclosure of the same invention in an other's prior application -- Patent Law SS29bis
* (e) First filing -- Patent Law SS39
* (f) Description requirements of Specification -- Patent Law SS36

5. Priorities
* Three types of priorities can be claimed:
* (1) Paris Convention/International priority,
* (2) WTO-TRIPs/International priority, and
* (3) Domestic.
* The term of every priority is one year.
* In case of claiming domestic priority, original application is automatically abandoned.

6. Entry into national stage of PCT application
* Due date of the entry is the date in 30 months as of the priority date. There is no extension. However, Japanese translation may be filed within 2 months as of the entry date, not the due date.

7. Fee schedule of Japan Patent Office (after April 1st, 2005)
***Estimated Exchange Rate: 1US$ = 100-120JPY, 1EURO=130-140JPY
7.1. Application
* Patent application: JPY16,000
* Foreign Document Application: JPY26,000
* Entry into the national phase in Japan (for intl applications filed on or after April 1st, 2004): JPY16,000
7.2. Request for Examination (for patent applications filed on or after April 1st, 2004)
* Request for examination: JPY168,600 + JPY4,000 per claim
* -for PCT National Stage with intl search report by JPO: JPY101,200 + JPY2,400 per claim
* -for PCT National Stage with intl search report by an ISA other than JPO: JPY151,700 + JPY3,600 per claim
7.3. Annual fee / Registration fee
--For patent applications requested for examination on or after April 1st, 2004
* 1-3rd year: annually, JPY2,600 + JPY200 per claim
* 4-6th year: annually, JPY8,100 + JPY600 per claim
* 7-9th year: annually, JPY24,300 + JPY1,900 per claim
* 10-25th year: annually, JPY81,200 + JPY6,400 per claim

Japanese IP System

Japanese IP System is supported by several laws.

* Patent law - for invention,
* Utility model law - for utility model,
* Design law - for design,
* Trademark law - for trademark and service mark,
* Copyright law - for work
* etc.

Japanese patent law system is a first-filing system, in which a person who firstly files an application of a same invention is granted patent. An application usually includes at least one claim, an embodiment, an abstract and drawings in Japanese. An application in English can be filed, but a Japanese translation must be filed by 2 months of the filing date. At the time of filing, there is no need to submit a power of attorney, a declaration and an assignment to Japan Patent Office (JPO).

reboot!

Hi, my name is Osamu Aoki.
I am a patent attorney of Japan and live in Tokyo, Japan.

This is the first post in English :-D

See you.

To contact me, send an e-mail to osamu.aoki@indigobullet.com.