Unquestionably, 2020 was remarkably a tough and soul-destroying year for businesses around the world. The coronavirus pandemic has had a major impact on every aspect of day-to-day life, including the world of business. Just as the fluctuations in the economy and our changing work and lifestyles due to long months spent at homes destroyed our understanding of “normal.” Business mentality, preferences, and actions taken during the crisis have all changed. As a result, it was inevitable for trademark filings to be affected by these changes.
According to “JPO Status Report 2021” released on March 31, 2021, by the Japan Patent Office (JPO), a total of 181,072 trademark applications were filed in 2020. This number is down 5% compared to the previous year when the number of applications amounted to 190,773.
It is interesting to see that Pfizer Inc. became a top-ranking foreign registrant in 2020 who could successfully register 154 trademarks in Japan, drastically increased from the previous year.
Requests for accelerated examination consecutively increased to 11,204 by 38% in 2020, which enables applicants to obtain trademark registration within 2months.
As a background, it should be noted that the entire trademark process for general examination at the JPO (the total time of application from filing to registration) takes 10.9 months on average, which is nearly 2 months longer than the previous year.
You can access and download the full text of “JPO Status Report 2021” from here.
