yes
- Grant fee: The applicant should pay the granted fee and the annual fee for the first year within 30 days after receiving the granted notice.
- Annuity: The annual fee shall be paid year by year from the second year from the date of granted, and the payment of the annual fee may be postponed within 6 months if the annual fee is overdue, but a 200% penalty shall be paid at the same time.
Japan Patent Office
English: Japan Patent Office, abbreviation: JPO
Website: Japan Patent Office (jpo.go.jp)
Japanese Invention Patent Search: Japan Platform for Patent Information｜J-PlatPat [JPP] (inpit.go.jp)
yes.
- Within the period of 9 years and 6 months from the date of application for the invention patent, or within 3 months from the date of receipt of the notification of rejection, the patent type of the invention patent may be changed from invention to utility model/design upon request
- A request to change the patent type from invention to utility model/design can be filed within three months from the date of the JPO’s first decision to reject the application
A conversion fee shall be paid for patent type conversion. Once the original patent application is converted, it will be deemed withdrawn.
yes. Multiple designs may be included in one design application.
yes
yes
Inventors have a novelty grace period of 12 months after disclosure (including sale).
5-7 months
- via Paris Convention : 12 months from earliest priority date.
- via Nationalization of PCT : 30 months from the earliest priority date.
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).