Japanese Design Patent Registration Process
1. Responsible Organization
The Japan Patent Office (JPO) accepts, examines and registers patents for designs.
2. Definition of Appearance Design and Targets of Protection
According to Japan's Design Law, design includes the shape, pattern or color of an article, the shape, pattern or color of a building, and a pictorial image, and will be extended after 2019 to include "buildings" and "pictorial images".
3. Registration requirements
- It must not be a design that is already well known.
- Must not be a publicly available design.
- Must not resemble known designs.
- No loss of novelty by submitting an application within 12 months of publication.
4. Protection period
The period of protection is 25 years from the date of application.
5. Application procedures
- Submit an Application
- Form Review
- Substantive Review
- Issuance of Notice of Rejection of Opinion
- Submission of written comments or amendments
- Registration
- Payment of Registration Fee
- bulletin
6. Application Channels
- Paris Convention Trail
- Submit directly to JPO
- Hague System Application
7. Forms of scrutiny
Including formal and substantive review, there is no need to request for substantive review, and the review will be carried out automatically.
8. Language of Application
Application documents must be in Japanese.
Through these steps, design creators are able to protect their innovative designs in the Japanese market and promote the development of the industry.
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