Novelty grace period for industrial design applications in Japan

Reinstatement of priority is accepted on grounds of "due care."

yes

Inventors have a novelty grace period of 12 months after disclosure (including sale).

The JPO conducts formality examination only for utility model patent applications.

3-6 months

The JPO conducts formality examination and substantive examination of the design patent application, and the substantive examination starts automatically, and the applicant does not need to submit a separate substantive examination request. JPO mainly examines the novelty and inventiveness of designs.

• (*Secret design: applicants can request that their design remain secret for 3 years from the filing date).

Inventors have a novelty grace period of 12 months after disclosure (including sale).

• Inventions under the via Paris Convention : 12 months from the earliest priority date.
• via Nationalization of PCT inventions: 30 months from the earliest priority date.

• via Paris Convention : 12 months from earliest priority date.
• via Nationalization of PCT : 30 months from the earliest priority date.