1

Introduction to Introduction to thetheJapan Patent Japan Patent OfficeOffice

Japan Patent Office

Intellectual Property Laws in Japan

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– Patent Law (Invention)

– Utility Model Law (Device)

– Design Law (Industrial Design)

– Trademark Law (Trademark, Service mark)

– Copyright Law (Copyright)

– Unfair Competition Prevention Law

(Well-known Marks, Indication of Origin, Trade Secrets)

– Law concerning the Circuit Layout of Semiconductor

Integrated Circuits

– Seed and Seedlings Law

Organization (1)

3

Agency of NaturalResources and Energy

Japan Patent Office

Ministry ofEconomy,

Trade and Industry

Small and MediumEnterprise Agency

Organization (2)

4

General Affairs Dept.General Affairs Dept.

Patent and Design Examination Dept.(Physics, Optics, Social Infrastructure and Design)

Patent and Design Examination Dept.(Physics, Optics, Social Infrastructure and Design)

Patent Examination Dept.(Mechanical Technology)

Patent Examination Dept.(Mechanical Technology)

Patent Examination Dept.(Chemistry, Life Science and Material Science)

Patent Examination Dept.(Chemistry, Life Science and Material Science)

Patent Examination Dept.(Electronic Technology)

Patent Examination Dept.(Electronic Technology)

Japan Patent Office

Trial and Appeal Dept.Trial and Appeal Dept.

Trademark and Customer Relations Dept.Trademark and Customer Relations Dept.

5

Comparison with EPO and USPTOOrganization JPO EPO USPTO

Jurisdiction Patent

Utility Model

Design

Trademark

Patent Patent

(Plant)

(Design)

Trademark

Number of staffs

Total Staff 2,852 6,726* 11,531

Patent Examiners 1,713 3,949* 7,831

Design Examiners 51 - 104

Trademark Examiners 147 - 386

Number of applications (2012)

Patent 342,796 148,494 542,815

Design 32,391 - 32,799

Trademark 119,010 - 306,049*

<source> IP5 Statistics Report 2011, Website of each office

* :Data of 2011

<source> IP5 Statistics Report 2011, Website of each office

* :Data of 2011

6

Organization JPO EPO USPTO

Application Language JapaneseEnglish* (Translation in Japanese should be submitted later)

German

French

EnglishOther EPO languages* (Translation in any of above 3 languages should be submitted later)

English

Other languages*(Translation in English should be submitted later)

Publication 18 months from filing or priority date

18 months from filing or priority date

18 months from filing or priority date

Request for substantive examination

3 years from filing or priority date

6 month from European Search

Report

none

Term of patent right 20 years from filing date

20 years from filing date

20 years from filing date(applications after June 8 1995)

Comparison with EPO and USPTO

7

Japan Patent Office

Actions for Work sharing and Actions for Work sharing and International Cooperation International Cooperation at the JPOat the JPO

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The number of patent applications in the world is increasing along with the globalization of business.

In particular, the number of applications filed in many offices is significantly increasing.

Duplicate work among individual patent offices is also on the rise.

The number of patent applications in the world is increasing along with the globalization of business.

In particular, the number of applications filed in many offices is significantly increasing.

Duplicate work among individual patent offices is also on the rise.

Patent Application Filed in the Whole World

Changes in Patent Appl. Filed in the Whole World

Source: WIPO Industrial Property Statistics

(Unit: 10 thou.)

56.1

92.4

151.3

2.35 mil.

1.48 mil.

83.4

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Work-sharing CaseWork-sharing Case

an application

The general concept of work-sharing is the utilization of search & examination results in office of earlier examination.

The general concept of work-sharing is the utilization of search & examination results in office of earlier examination.

Search

an application

Duplicate Work..Duplicate Work..

Normal Case

Search

Finished

Search

Refer to the results before

searching

Utilization of Results!Utilization of Results!

prior arts, office actions

Reduced examination workload

Growing Demand for work-sharing among IP OfficesGrowing Demand for work-sharing among IP Offices

Patent applications filed with major 5 Offices

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Large majority of worldwide patent applications are filed at 5 Offices (1,876,823 in 2012)

Patent applications at 5 Offices in 2012

Work sharing (mutual exploitation of search/examination results) is a key issue

88,686

22,659

42,27816,004

342,796

22,922

35,207

29,510

11,346

542,815

20,899

85,195

31,780

10,194

148,562

2,022

13,273

3,732

982

653,735

5,708

29,4815,719

8,985

188,915

JPO（日本）

USPTO（米国） EPO（欧州）

SIPO（中国） KIPO（韓国）

Contents

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1. PPH2. PCT3. PCT-Kaizan4. Competent ISA 5. Examiner Exchange Program6. Global Dossier

The Scheme of Patent Prosecution Highway

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PPH is a framework in which an application determined to be patentable in the Office of Earlier Examination is eligible to have an accelerated examination in the Office of Later Examination with a simple procedure upon an applicant’s request

PPH is a framework in which an application determined to be patentable in the Office of Earlier Examination is eligible to have an accelerated examination in the Office of Later Examination with a simple procedure upon an applicant’s request

ApplicationA

CorrespondingApplication

A’

Grant

AcceleratedAcceleratedExaminationExamination

OEE (Office of Earlier Examination)

OLE (Office of Later Examination) OLE examination burden can be lightenOLE examination burden can be lighten

Work SharingWork Sharing

Applicant MeritApplicant Merit

PPHReques

t

Claims correspondence

OEE Examination History

Office MeritOffice Merit

The JPO proposed the patent prosecution highway (PPH) and put it into action with the United States in 2006 for the first time in the world. Since then, the JPO has been working toward expanding the PPH network and enhancing the usability of this framework.

IPO-CZ　

(Czech)

SIC(Colombia)

IPOPHL(Philippines)

TIPO(Taiwan)

IMPI(Mexico)

APO(Austria)

SIPO(China)

EPO(Europe)

DPMA (Germany)

IPOS(Singapore)

PPO (Poland)

EAPO (Eurasia)

DGIPR (Indonesia)

DIP(Thai)

JPO 　　　　 (JAPAN)

UKIPO(UK)

CIPO (Canada)

ROSPATENT(Russia)

USPTO(USA)

DKPTO (Denmark)

PRH(Finland)

SPTO(Spain)INPI

(Portugal)

ILPO(Israel)

IP Australia(Australia)

IPO(Iceland)

PRV(Sweden)

NIPO(Norway)

NPI(Nordic) HIPO

(Hungary)

KIPO(Korea)

NRIP 　　　　

（ Nicaragua ）

As of 6th of January, 2014

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32 offices participate in the PPH.As of January 6, 2014

(Japan implements the PPH with 28 offices.)The accumulated total number of requests

for PPH filed worldwide is about 50,000.As of December 2013

32 offices participate in the PPH.As of January 6, 2014

(Japan implements the PPH with 28 offices.)The accumulated total number of requests

for PPH filed worldwide is about 50,000.As of December 2013

Expanding PPH Network

Number of applications for the PPH (received by JPO)

as of December 2013

• High Speed:

Reduced pendency at the office of second filing (OSF)

Expeditious examination

• Cost Saving:

Reduction in Number of Office Actions

• High Quality:

High grant rate at the OSF High predictability of

examination results at the OSF

Merits of PPH: High Speed, Cost Saving, High Quality

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PCT as an international work sharing initiative

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ISA/IPEA provides international work products (Written Opinion (WO), IPER etc.) that can be utilized at the subsequent national phase.

16

Refer the written opinion

ISA/IPEA

DO

DO

DO

DO

Refer the written opinion

Refer the written opinion

Refer the written opinion

Refer the written opinion

WO

PCT systemPCT system

“PCT Kaizen”

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【 Issues with the PCT System 】・ Duplicate work of applicants and IP offices・ Lack of predictability of acquiring patent rights, etc.

Currentmeasures

Improving individual elements and functions that make up the PCT system (partialoptimization)・ Measures to improve the quality of international searches (prior art searches) of an individual ISA・ Improving electronic processing of applications, etc.

Proposed“PCTKaizen”

【 Basic concept 】Looking at the entire PCT system as a whole, and encouraging coordination among a series of processes and procedures, from applications up to examinations in each country (totaloptimization)【 Specific proposals 】・ Improving quality of search and examination results at the international phase・ Promoting linkage between the international phase and the national phase・ Refining international search collaboration (collaborative search)・ Creating intelligence for analyzing and improving PCT processes・ Creating IT infrastructure which is conductive to PCT Kaizen (full use of the Global Dossier)

ＩｎｄｏｎｅｓｉａStarted on June 1, 2013Actual total number: 0

Ｐｈｉｌｉｐｐｉｎｅs

Started on Jan. 1, 2002Actual total number: 10

ＴｈａｉｌａｎｄStarted on April 15, 2010Actual total number: 23

ＶｉｅｔｎａｍStarted on July 1, 2012Actual total number: 0

ＭａｌａｙｓｉａStarted on April 1, 2013Actual total number: 16

ＳｉｎｇａｐｏｒｅStarted on Dec. 1, 2012Actual total number: 10

Rep. of Ｋｏｒｅａ *Resumed on July 1, 2001

*Actual total number: 12

(Only applications prepared in Japanese)

*JPO first served as an ISA for Rep. of Korea on Sep. 1, 1990, but in essence discontinued as an ISA on Dec. 1, 1999. The above “actual total number” reflects the number after JPO resumed operations as an ISA for Rep. of Korea.

Competent ISA (International Searching Authority)

Examiner Exchange Program

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Purposes

1. Mutual understanding of the other offices’ examination practices

2. Learning useful tools for examiners themselves

3. Fostering mutual confidence on “work results” of the other offices

Maximize mutual exploitation of search/examination results among the offices

Expanding Examiners Exchange Program

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As of end of March, 2014

dispatch 40accept 34

dispatch 8accept 5

dispatch 10accept 8

dispatch 7accept 4

accept 1

dispatch 6

dispatch 2accept 2

dispatch 2accept 2

dispatch 4accept 2

dispatch 2

dispatch 9

dispatch 12accept 12dispatch 2

dispatch 2

accept 2

dispatch 19accept 21

KIPO

DPMA (Germany)

UKIPO(England)

Rospatent (Russia)

EAPO(Eurasia) PRV

(Sweden)

DKPTO (Denmark)

SPTO（Spain）

INPI (Portugal)

INPI (Brazil)

IMPI (Mexico)

CIPO (Canada)

CGPDTM(India)TIPO

（Taiwan）

SIPO

IP Australia NOIP （Vietnam）IPOS

（Singapore）

mid and long termdispatch 1

USPTO

EPO

WIPO

dispatch 29accept 28

dispatch 251accept 191

mid and long termdispatch 5

mid and long termdispatch 5

Trilateral Examiner Exchangedispatch 28 accept 24

IP5 Workshop (from 2009)dispatch 13 accept 12

Harmony Visit (classification)dispatch 73 accept 11

mid and long termdispatch 1

dispatch 4accept 2

mid and long termdispatch 1

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System enabling to retrieve patent application / examination result information in multiple countries at “one stop”Contribute to enhance work sharing among the OfficesExamination information sharing system in operation among the IP5 Offices (China, Europe, Japan, Korea and USA)Promote to expand a linkage with the other countries

Patent Application/Examination Result Information Database(Build a virtual database by a linkage

of the systems at the Offices)

Examiner OtherCountries

Image　of　system　infrastructure　for　sharing　of　patent　examination　informationImage　of　system　infrastructure　for　sharing　of　patent　examination　information

JAPAN

USA

DATE　　　　　　　　　DOCUMENT**.05.2008:　Request　for　a　Patent**.05.2008:　Description**.05.2008:　Abstract**.07.2010:　Request　for　Examination**.11.2011:　Notification　of　Reasons　for　Refusal**.01.2012:　Written　Argument**.04.2012:　Decision　to　Grant　a　Patent

JAPANJAPAN Country　ACountry　ADATE　　DOCUMENT*******　　XXXXXXXX*******　　XXXXX*******　　XXXXXXX*******　　XXXXXX

Country　XCountry　XDATE　　DOCUMENT*******　　XXXXX*******　　XXXX*******　　XXXXXXX　*******　　XXXXXXXX*******　　XXXXXX

Country　ZCountry　ZDATE　　DOCUMENT*******　　XXXXX*******　　XXXXXX*******　　XXXXX　*******　　XXXXXXXX*******　　XXXXXX*******　　XXXXXXXXRetrieve　patent　examination　result　information

in　multiple　countries　at　“one　stop”

EUROPE

CHINA

… …

Public　User

KOREA

Global　Global　DossierDossier

Global Dossier Initiative

22

GraciasGracias