 |
| |
| |
|
| |
|
|
| |
| Filing |
Japan has adopted the first-to-file system, i.e. the principle that where two parties apply for a patent for the same invention, the first to file will be granted the patent. Accordingly, we advise you not to make the invention public before filing a patent application.
For applicants wishing to enter the National Phase on the basis of a PCT application, the appropriate documentation must be submitted to the Japanese Patent Office within 30 months from the priority date.
Applicants will need to submit an application to enter the National Phase to the Japanese Patent Office. An application consists of the patent specifications, claims, abstract, figures, and accompanying submission form. If a Japanese translation of the application is not available at the time of filing it may be submitted any time up to two months after filing (meaning that in the extreme case a translation may be submitted up to 32 months after the priority date).
With the APA system, if you simply inform us of the PCT application and/or publication numbers we will compile the necessary documentation for the application on your behalf. |
| |
| Formality Examination |
| Application documents submitted to the JPO will be checked as to whether they are in good order. |
| |
| Publication of Unexamined Application |
| The JPO will publish the content of an application in the Patent Office Gazette 18 months after the date of filing. |
| |
| Request for Examination |
| Under the Japanese system, patent applications do not automatically undergo a substantive examination. An examination will be carried out only for those applications for which the applicant or a third party has filed a request for examination with payment of the examination fees. Any application for which a request for examination has not been filed within a period of three years from PCT filing will be automatically regarded as abandoned. If the original filing was a PCT application and not a domestic one, special care is necessary with this deadline. The time remaining between national phase entry and the cut-off date for submitting a request for examination may be as little as 6 months. In such a case, we recommend submitting the request at the time of national phase entry. |
| |
| Substantive Examination |
| The examination will be carried out by the examiners of the JPO, who will decide whether or not the claimed invention should be patented. An examination will check whether the application fulfill the requirements prescribed by law, i.e., whether or not there are any reasons for refusal. These requirements include the following: |
- Whether the claimed invention is based on a technical idea which utilizes a law of nature
- Whether it has any industrial applicability
- Whether the technical idea existed before the filing of the current application
- Whether the claimed invention could have been easily arrived at by a person skilled in the art
- Whether the applicant is the first to file
- Whether the claimed invention is liable to contravene public order and morality, and
- Whether the descriptions in the specification conform exactly with the requirements for patentability.
|
| |
| Notification of Reasons for Refusal |
| If the examiner finds reasons for refusal, a notice to this effect will be sent to the applicant. An applicant who has received a notification of refusal shall be given the opportunity to submit either a written argument claiming that the invention differs from the prior art to which the Notification of Reasons for Refusal refers, or an amendment of the claims in the case that this would nullify the reasons for rejection. |
| |
| Argument or Amendment |
| An applicant who has received a notification of refusal shall be given the opportunity to submit either a written argument claiming that the invention differs from the prior art to which the Notification of Reasons for Refusal refers, or an amendment of the claims in the case that this would nullify the reasons for rejection. |
| |
| Decision to Grant a Patent / Decision of Refusal |
| As a result of the examination, the examiner will make a decision to grant a patent as the final assessment of the examination stage if no reasons for refusal have been found. The examiner will also make the same decision if the reasons for refusal have been eliminated by an argument or amendment. On the other hand, if the examiner judges that the reasons for refusal have not been eliminated, a decision of refusal (the final assessment of the examination stage) will be made. If the examiner finds reasons for refusal, notification will be sent to inform the applicant of these reasons. |
| |
| Registration |
| Provided that the applicant pays the patent fee, once the decision to grant a patent has been made the patent right will come into existence on being entered in the Patent Register. It is not until this time that the invention acquires a patent number. Once a patent has been officially registered, a certificate of patent will be sent to the applicant. |
| |
| Publication of Patent |
| The contents of the patent right as entered in the register will be published in the Patent Gazette, an online resource for researching existing applications and patents and accessing patent and utility model resources. |
| |
| |
|
|
 |
|
