Number of Trademark Applications and Registrations in Japan
(posted on our MP&W website) 1 February 2007, 19:12

The importance of trademarks should not be underestimated in Japan. Trademarks are ubiquitous in Japanese daily life. The relevance of trademarks can also be seen in the annual statistics published by the Japanese Patent Office.

The table below shows the number of applications from 1995 until 2005 in Japan:

Year	Number of Applications	Comparison to Preceding Year in %
1995	179,689	--
1996	188,160	104.7
1997	133,116	70.7
1998	112,469	84.5
1999	121,861	108.4
2000	145,668	119.5
2001	123,754	85.0
2002	117,406	94.9
2003	123,325	105.0
2004	128,843	104.5
2005	135,776	105.4

The number of trademark registrations from 1995 until 2005 in Japan are stated in the table below:

Year	Number of Registrations	Comparison to Proceding Year in %
1995	144,911	--
1996	178,251	123.0
1997	253,272	142.1
1998	132,066	52.1
1999	123,656	93.6
2000	94,493	76.4
2001	93,548	99.0
2002	105,114	112.4
2003	108,568	103.3
2004	95,866	88.3
2005	94,439	98.5

The Annual Reports of the Japanese Patent Office show that the number of rejections in Japan is relatively high. The reasons for it - especially with regard to applications filed by foreigners - may be mainly seen in the language barrier and the differing local Japanese procedures and rules, such as the difference in implementation of the international trademark classification. Therefore, a professional in-depth trademark search is indispensable prior to a trademark application in Japan.

Source: http://www.jpo.go.jp/shiryou_e/toukei_e/report_a_r_e.htm