Japan is like the United Kingdom a constitutional monarchy with an emperor residing in the palace at the heart of Tokyo. And to this day, the imperial era names selected for each successive emperor (empress) are used to date many…
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When Might the Japan Patent Office Reject a Recovered Priority Claim in a PCT Application? A client recently asked about reinstating (restoring priority right in a patent application, so we summarized some points below. When an applicant wants to file…
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The Study Group for Industrial Competitiveness and Designs, a project particularly of the JPO’s Design Division, ended with a “Declaration” published on May 23, 2018, after meetings stretched out over ten months. The JPO recently published a report and interview…
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In another article, we discussed how to fix various substantive errors in the description of a PCT application when entering the Japanese national phase. This time we will shed some light on what an applicant who wants to enter Japan’s…
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The Japanese Trademark Act has been revised as of May 30. The changes force all divisional trademark registration applications filed from June 9, 2018 to stem from a properly paid-for trademark registration application. Until this, the Trademark Act Article 10…
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There has been some guessing among patent commentators that the Japan Patent Office (JPO) will make it easier for small venture businesses to put their patent applications on the “Super Accelerated Examination” (Super souki shinsa) track, making First Action pendency…
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Applicants may want to file an Amendment to a Japanese patent application for a variety of reasons. However, it is important to be aware of the deadline when an amendment has to reach the Japan Patent Office (JPO). By when…
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Japan Prime Minister Shinzo Abe received a proposal from his Liberal Democratic Party (LDP)’s Intellectual Property Strategy Investigation Committee on May 17. The Committee argued for an infrastructure that would enable universities’ research to reach and be invested in by…
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Japan’s Intellectual Property High Court’s seventh chief judge, Makiko Takabe, was installed on May 5, 2018. Her inaugural greeting is now available on the IP High Court’s website. She has had a long career in the justice system in Japan,…
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* This is based in part on our earlier article “Power of Attorney Submission in Japan.” “I was told by another Japanese patent law firm I don’t need to submit a POA … Why do you require one?” We are…
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