Japan to Revise Japanese Patent Laws and Develop a Registration System to Adjust Patent Terms

Under current Japanese patent laws, the term for patent validity is 20 years from the filing date of the application. The amount of time the application takes to be examined is irrelevant to the term of validity. However, to bring the Japanese patent system into compliance with the conditions of the Trans-Pacific Strategic Economic Partnership Agreement (TPP), the Japanese Cabinet recently approved the development of a registration system that will allow for extensions to patent term validity to compensate for delays at the Japan Patent Office (JPO).

As part of this development, the Japanese Cabinet also approved the development of regulations regarding the payment fees for the application to extend the term of validity.
The Cabinet Order will be in effect as of the effective date of the Act on the Development of the Related Acts.