WHAT'S NEW

2007

• Infringement by refilled Ink Cartridges(December 18, 2007)
• Patent Attorney Examination System in Japan(December 17, 2007)
• Changes Due to New Postal Regulation(November 14, 2007)
• Expanded Protection for Display Screen Designs(October 22, 2007)
• Patent Prosecution Highway Pilot Program and Accelerated Examination(October 15, 2007)
• High Court Vacates Rejection of a 3-D Trademark(September 26, 2007)
• The number of patent applications and registrations in 2006(September 18, 2007)
• Priority Document Electronic Exchange between the United States Patent and Trademark Office and the Japan Patent Office(September 3, 2007)
• The Patent Prosecution Highway Pilot Program (continued)(August 22, 2007)
• Searching for Registered Designs in Japan(August 16, 2007)
• Protection of New Plant Variety in Japan(June 30, 2007)
• Launch of the Patent Prosecution Highway Pilot Program(June 14, 2007)
• Measures to Accelerate Reform in Patent Examination(May 9, 2007)
• Latest Study on "Inventive Step" in Japan(April 26, 2007)
• Details of the Revised Design Law(April 6, 2007)
• Revisions of "Examination Guidelines for Patent and Utility Model" from April 1, 2007(March 27, 2007)
• Intellectual Property Law Revisions effective from April 1, 2007(March 1, 2007)
• Court Orders Canon to Pay 33.52 Million Yen to a Former Employee(February 22, 2007)
• Patent Prosecution Highway(January 25, 2007)
• Campaign to Combat Counterfeiting and Piracy(January 19, 2007)
• New Regulations on Extensions Following a Notice of Reasons for Rejection(January 11, 2007)

2006

• Winny Developer Found Guilty of Copyright Violations(December 19, 2006)
• 635 Candidates Passed the Patent Attorney Examination(November 17, 2006)
• 41 Countries Agree on the First-to-File System(November 7, 2006)
• Classification of Service for Retail Sales under the Revised Trademark Law(October 11, 2006)
• Descriptive requirements for claims in Japan(October 6, 2006)
• WIPO Opened Office in Japan(September 21, 2006)
• Full Refund of the Official Fees for the Request for Examination(September 5, 2006)
• Revision of the Design Law(August 22, 2006)
• Revision of the Examination Guidelines - Claims with a Limitation by Use(August 10, 2006)
• Opportunities for Filing Divisional Patent Applications in Japan to Increase(July 20, 2006)
• Retail Sales Service Marks Approved(July 12, 2006)
• Revision of the Examination Guidelines For "Use Inventions"(July 6, 2006)
• Launch of the Patent Prosecution Highway Pilot Program(June 14, 2006)
• Public Sales Create Grounds for Invalidation Due to Lack of Inventive Step(May 25, 2006)
• Patent Applications in Eight Fields(May 18, 2006)
• The Current state of discussions on the Legal framework for Multifaceted Protection of Inventions in japan(April 28, 2006)
• Does Sales of Refilled Ink Cartridges infringe a Patent?(March 16, 2006)
• Penalty for Patent Infringement to be Increased(March 10, 2006)
• INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY EXAMINATIONS IN JAPAN(February 24, 2006)
• Increasing the Number of Patent Attorneys and Their Activities(February 1, 2006)
• Commissioner's Message(January 31, 2006)
• Revisions of Trademark Law: Protection of Regional Brands(January 24, 2006)
• Reform of Patent Law, Utility Model Law, Design Law, Unfair Competition Law(Asahi Shimbun, January 14, 2006)(January 18, 2006)
• Recent patent trends filing in the JPO, PTO & EPO(January 5, 2006)

2005

• JAPANESE DESIGN LAW REVISION TRENDS(November 28, 2005)
• Recent Trends in Business Method-related Inventions in Japan(September 28, 2005)
• Application Numbers for International Applications Entering the National Phase in Japan(September 7, 2005)
• PATENT APPLICATION AID SYSTEM OF JAPAN PATENT ATTORNEYS’ ASSOCIATION(August 25, 2005)
• Filing A “Request For Consideration” When Making Preliminary Amendments(August 10, 2005)
• New Filing System in Japan(July 25, 2005)
• Patent Enforcement When There is an Exclusive License(July 7, 2005)
• Accelerated Design Examination Now More User-Friendly(June 29, 2005)
• Why Request Accelerated Examination?(May 31, 2005)
• The Intellectual Property High Court Established(April 27, 2005)
• Naming Rights - A New Trademark Strategy(March 15, 2005)
• The revisions of the Patent law & the Utility Model law(February 7, 2005)
• To intellectual property trust The Yomiuri Shimbun(December 30, 2004)(January 14, 2005)

2004

• Design Registration :Cutting The Exam Period In Half(December 21, 2004)
• Recent statistics -Invalidity in the court-(November 12, 2004)
• Trend of Using Partial Design(October 19, 2004)
• New Tools in Civil Procedure(October 14, 2004)
• Establishment of Government General Office for Measures Against Counterfeit and Pirated Products(September 14, 2004)
• Expansion and Simplification for the Request of the Accelerated Examination system(July 14, 2004)
• Japan Adopts the Vienna Classification of Figurative Elements of Marks(June 17, 2004)
• Do You Need a "Business Method Patent" in Japan?(June 8, 2004)
• Advisory Committee for the IP Courts(May 25, 2004)
• Guideline for "Response Period" in Cancellation Trial of Trademark Registration(May 11, 2004)
• Watching for Asian Piracy at its Source- Asahi Shimbun April 7-(April 20, 2004)
• Increase of Patent Attorneys in Japan(April 2, 2004)
• YOSHINOYA- Successful brand strategy taking advantage of BSE -(March 16, 2004)
• Proposed Revision of the Utility Model Law(March 12, 2004)
• Compensation for Employee's Inventions(March 2, 2004)
• New systems for attacking a patent(January 15, 2004)

2003

• Trademark Revision Progress(December 26, 2003)
• Report on Amendment of the Antitrust Law Released(Reported by The Daily Yomiuri 10/29/2003)(December 11, 2003)
• Examination Guidelines on the Introduction of New Matter(November 7, 2003)
• Sufficient Protection for Utility Model Registrations(Nihon Keizai Shimbun, September 13, 2003)(October 17, 2003)
• With victory in hand, can the Hanshin Tigers use the trademark "HANSHIN YUSHO(victory)" themselves?(September 25, 2003)
• Selection of Saiban-in- Based on the Asahi Shimbum, August 31, 2003(September 9, 2003)
• Partial Amendment to the Code of Civil Procedure(September 3, 2003)
• PCT filings in Japan(August 26, 2003)
• The Scope to Amend(August 7, 2003)
• Digital Shoplifters(July 22, 2003)
• Intellectual Property can be the Subject Matter of a Trust - Based on the Asahi Shimbun, June 21, 2003 -(July 10, 2003)
• Interest in Intellectual Property Protection Growing at Japanese Universities(June 24, 2003)
• Fee Increase for Requests for Examination(June 12, 2003)
• Trends in Patent Applications directed to Business Related Inventions in Japan(May 27, 2003)
• Full Revision of the Administrative Procedure Litigation Law (Based on The Asahi Shimbun -morning edition- April 24, 2003)(May 15, 2003)
• Survey on Intellectual Property (IP) Activities in 2002(April 23, 2003)
• RECEPTANTS to Replace COMPANIONS(April 15, 2003)
• Opposition System will be abolished for patents (2004)(April 2, 2003)
• Foundation of Intellectual Property High Court for IP Disputes(March 31, 2003)
• Right to Import for Japanese Music CDs(March 17, 2003)
• New Official Fee Schedule(February 25, 2003)
• Intellectual property report in financial statements - Yomiuri Newspaper January 25, 2003(February 11, 2003)
• Proposed Amendment for Intellectual Property Legislation(January 28, 2003)
• The Sense of Brand in Japan(January 14, 2003)
• Does the effect of Article 271 (b) of the U.S. Patent Law extend to Japan?(January 7, 2003)

2002

• Patent application and utility model registration application through the PCT system(December 17, 2002)
• Should Medical Activities be patentable in Japan?(December 3, 2002)
• Protection for the Copying(Summarized from the Yomiuri Shinbun Nov. 3, 2002)(November 19, 2002)
• Waseda/Adidas collaboration(November 5, 2002)
• Former Employee Filed Suit for 2 Billion Yen as Remuneration for Patented Invention(October 22, 2002)
• Lawsuit over LED Patent(October 8, 2002)
• Copyright for computer screen?(September 24, 2002)
• Requirement for the Disclosure of Information on Prior Art Documents(September 10, 2002)
• Compromise -- "Blue Light Emitting Diodes" litigation(August 26, 2002)
• Domain Name Dispute --- MP3.co.jp v MP3.com(August 12, 2002)
• Trial for Invalidation and Oral Hearings(June 2, 2002)
• Revisions to the Trademark Law(June 1, 2002)
• Changes in the Japanese Patent Practice that Take Effect on September 1, 2002(February 8, 2002)

2001

• The protection of three-dimensional trademarks in Japan(July 31, 2001)
• Term for Request for Examination will be Reduced(July 30, 2001)
• How to get early allowance for Japanese patent application(April 4, 2001)