Patent Application

From application till the patent gets registered.

・The inventor would need to write out in both words and drawing explaining how the invention works and submit this information to the Japan Patent Office (JPO) when he or she applies for his or her invention to be patented. The JPO is a government body and is currently handling about 1000 patent applications per day.

・The application documents serve 2 purposes. One is to specify the object to be patented and the other would be to give its holder his or her rights over this invention. In the application, the applicant would have to specify exactly the technology area of which his or her right would cover. As a basic principle, areas which are specified in this application would protect the inventor’s rights from all infringements in this area. However, likewise, anything that is not specified in the application would be deemed to be not patented.

・Writing in both words and drawing has the advantage of giving the applicant more space to explain his or her invention. If the specified range of coverage is too brief or is limited unnecessarily, it would be difficult to make use of the rights in the future. The patent holder’s rights are thus greatly affected by the quality of the application documents submitted. Our Patent Bureau is not only here to help protect our clients’ rights, but we also aim to help our clients gain the greatest benefit possible through the registration of their patent.

・After the application is submitted to the JPO, it would be put under examination for approval within 3years. Currently, most applications take about 1 ? 2 years to be approved.

・The patent application would be published 18months after its submission. Once the application is published, the applicant has the right to issue a notice of warning for his or her rights to claim for compensation and acquirement of information from third parties would be possible. The publication of the application could be expedited upon request.

・Based on the judgement of the examiner, if the examiner approves the application, the applicant would be sent the “Decision to Grant a Patent”. If the examiner assesses that the application is similar to any other known technology, the applicant would receive a “Notification of Reasons for Refusal”. This notice would indicate the reasons and grounds (legal and references cited) for refusal. When the applicant receives this notice, he or she can submit a written argument or amendment against the examiner’s decision within the stipulated time period.

・If the application has been granted approval, the applicant would have to make a “Patent Fee Payment” for its registration and maintenance to the JPO. Although the patent is valid for 20years, the applicant is liable to make an annual payment of patent fees.

・Once a patent has been granted, the patent holder would have the right to monopolize the use of the patent and enforce exclusion. Further, the applicant has the right to request for an injunction or claim for compensation against unauthorized users of the patent.

・We charge our fees based on each procedure requested. Related fees for the following procedures are: submission of application, examination, submission of written argument or amendment, registration after the patent has been granted and maintenance.

・Above is the brief summary of what is required when submitting a patent application. For further details, please refer to the JPO official website.