タグ: fast track examination

JPO Status Report 2021 – The impact of Covid-19 on Japan trademarks

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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.

Fast Track Trademark Examination – Japan Patent Office

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At present, applicant will wait at least 12 months from when trademark is filed until it becomes registered by the Japan Patent Office (JPO).

Accelerated Trademark Examination

To meet a need of earlier registration, JPO has introduced “Accelerated Trademark Examination” which enables trademark application to be registered in two or three months.
However, since it requires applicant to demonstrate actual use of applied mark on at least one of designated goods and services, if applicant has yet to use the mark, such applications have no way but to be in a long queue for JPO examination.

Fast Track Trademark Examination

Newly introduced “Fast Track Trademark Examination” provides an option to achieve earlier registration for non-use trademark owners. According to announcement from JPO, the Fast Track Examination shortens trademark examination period to 6 (six) months on average.

Excerpt from the JPO website

If trademark application meets with following conditions, your trademark will be freely on the fast track without request.

  1. Good and services initially designated under the application are all listed on the “Examination Guidelines for Similar Goods and Services”, “Regulation for Enforcement of the Trademark Act”, or “International Classification of Goods and Services (Nice Classification)”; and
  2. No amendment has been made with respect to goods and services by the time JPO commences examination; and
  3. Applied mark does not belong to non-traditional trademark, international applications under the Madrid system, or partial 3D (three dimensional) mark.

JPO adopts the Fast Track Examination to trademark application filed on or after February 1, 2020.

Further information is available from here.