Japan’s economy has slipped into recession for the first time since 2015 in the last quarter, putting the nation on course for its deepest slump as the coronavirus crisis ravages businesses and consumers. First-quarter GDP data revealed Japan’s GDP shrinks 3.4% in March 2020 amid pandemic, follows a 6.4% decline during the last quarter of 2019.
As widely spreading the serious impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the economy, the Japan Patent Office (JPO) announced, on July 1, 2020, a status update on its operations during the pandemic, including the extent to which trademark applications are declining.
The number of trademark applications filed in the Japan Patent Office (JPO) fell by a whopping 24.3% to 55,353 in the first four months 2020. In the meantime, Patent fell by 5.7% and Design fell by 3.9% for the same period.
The data illustrated how the coronavirus pandemic is considerably hampering new trademark applications, compared with other intellectual properties, in Japan.
