The Japanese patent and trademark business are administered by the Japan Patent Office (JPO) of the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI).
01 Ways to apply for a Japan trademark
1. Single country application
2. Designation of Japan as one of the applicant countries through the Madrid trademark.
02 Materials required for filing of trademark application
1. Company application: Copy of certificate of incorporation
Individual application: ID card copy with front and back.
2. Applicant's name and address with Chinese and English.
3. A clear graphical representation of the trademark
4. Classes of trademark applications and goods / services(According to Nice Classification)
5. no need power of attorney
03 Application time
7-12 months. If a rejection occur and the applicant should reply for that. Therefore, the application time will be extended.
04 Application process
• Application
After submitting the necessary documents for the Japanese trademark application, the Patent Office will issue an application receipt. (※The application receipt in Japan is "Trademark Registration Request" and receipt "
Acceptance letter")
• Formal examination
If the application documents are missing or do not meet the legal requirements, the official will issue a correction notice. Applicants must reply within 1 month. If they fail to reply before the deadline for correction notice, the Patent Office will not accept your trademark application.
• Substantive examination
If there are other reasons why the registration is not allowed, such as the trademark is not recognizable or there are similar trademarks. The official will issue a notice of the reason for the rejection. The applicant must reply within 3 months from the date of receipt.
• Registration and announcement
Once it is determined that the trademark can be certified, the official will issue an approval registration notice, at which time the applicant must pay the certification fee within 1 month. The official will issue a trademark registration certificate after receiving the certification fee and announce the trademark in the official gazette for about 2 months. This two-month announcement period is the opposition period. During this time, anyone could file an opposition procedure.
(Japan's approval notice is called "registration verification")
★Notices:
1. It could request accelerated examination for trademark application in Japan, and must provide reasons for accelerated examination and pay the fee for accelerated examination. (Possible reasons for accelerated review such as: the applicant received the trademark cancellation letter from the third party, the applicant is ready to develop a new drug or has been approved to implement production and will use the trademark to launch, etc.
2. The trademark registration is valid for 10 years from the date of the announcement and could be renewed for 10 years before 6 months the expiry date.
3. After the trademark registration has not been used for three consecutive years, anyone can propose "abolition" of the trademark, so that the trademark registration is revoked.
05 Apply for Japan trademark through Madrid trademark
1. After the applicant submits the application to the original country, the intellectual property bureau of the original country submits the application to WIPO for examination.
※Because Taiwan isn't an agreement or negotiated country for Madrid trademarks, Taiwan companies or individuals who want to apply for Madrid trademarks need to have the trademark of one of the Madrid Agreement countries as the basic case (usually based on China) before applying.
※Notice: if the basic case is rejected, Madrid trademark registration cannot register.
2. If the application meets the requirements, WIPO will register the trademark in the international register book and publish it. Then, WIPO will notify the office of each designated Party for examination. Generally speaking, since Japan receives the application, the time required for registration is 18 months (Protocol Relating to the Madrid Agreement). The international trademark right is valid for 10 years.
★Notices:
The electronic receipt sent by WIPO after the formal examination isn't representative of the successful registration of the trademark. It's the proof of the successful submission of the trademark application. And cannot be equivalent to the trademark registration certificate issued by the national or regional Intellectual Property Office.
