Effective April 1, 2009, provisional exclusive license and/or provisional non-exclusive license can be registered at the Japan Patent Office based on a license agreement before an application is granted a patent. The new recordation system will provide protection for the…
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The patent term is 20 years from the filing date. However, an application for patent duration extension is permitted under certain conditions in such cases as medicinal products, if the patent practically could not be used due to a time-consuming…
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Applications filed in Japan are published 18 months after the priority date regardless of the examination. Inventions described in the published application become a prior art as of this disclosure. PCT applications are internationally published 18 months after the priority…
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In Japan, an appeal against the final decision of rejection may be filed within 3 months. It may be hard for Americans to understand this appeal because there is nothing equivalent to this final rejection here in the U.S. We…
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In Japan, a patent application will not be examined unless a request for examination is filed within three (3) years of the filing date. One of the most frequently asked questions from non-Japanese clients is about when to file this…
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Patent applications (excluding PCT application; please see the above section C for PCT applications) to the JPO can be filed in English. In this case, a Japanese translation of the application must be filed within two months of the filing…
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In Japan, the national phase application must be filed within 30 months from the priority date (the 30-month deadline). According to the Japanese patent law, a PCT application can be entered into the Japanese national phase without a Japanese translation….
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The most important thing to recognize is that the English and Japanese languages are considerably different from each other. These two languages are far more different than Americans typically think they are. Also, just like patent specifications in English, Japanese…
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Japanese Patent Law Article 8 stipulates that an applicant who does not have a domicile or residence in Japan must appoint a patent administrator who does have a domicile or residence in Japan. In most cases applicants appoint a Japanese…
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I. Overview In Japan, a patent application will not be examined unless a request for a substantial examination is filed. After a request is filed, it usually takes more than two years for a case to be examined. The accelerated…
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