International Affairs Division
In assisting developing countries primarily in Asia and the Pacific Region to establish and improve their industrial property systems, the Japan Patent Office is fostering and conducting cooperative activities in various fields including human resource development, the digitization of patent application procedures, and the examination of applications.
As part of these cooperative activities, this site provides the texts (both in English and Japanese) of the industrial property laws and regulations in effect in various industrialized and developing countries.
We hope that the governments of developing countries use this site to refer to the legal systems of other countries in order to establish, revise, or contribute to their own industrial property laws. At the same time, we hope that those who apply for the acquisition of industrial property rights in other countries profit from the information contained in this site.
Please note that the translations of the texts and of the other information contained in this site are not official and are not always the latest. Please refer to the original texts of the laws of the countries concerned.
List of Laws and Regulations
The laws and regulations listed here are unofficial translations of the original-language texts, and therefore are for reference purposes only. As a result, you are kindly advised to refer to the original-language versions when you need to verify or inquire about the content. Furthermore, should there be any discrepancies between the original-language versions and the translations provided here, the original-language versions shall always take precedence.
Those marked with asterisks (*) contain the most updated laws/regulations as of the end of April 2011, according to our survey results.
LAWS / REGULATIONS
※Click the first letter of the country or region name you would like to search
ABCDEFGHIJKLM
NOPQRSTUVWXYZ
TREATIES
What's New?
Follow the easy instructions included with Acrobat Reader software to install Acrobat Reader on your computer.Then, click any PDF file to view, navigate, or print it!
What's New?
What's New?
| 13 Sep. 2011 |
EUROPEAN UNION/EUROPEAN COMMUNITY(Directive of the European Parliament and of the Council to approximate the laws of the Member States relating to trade marks(Link to EU)) |
| 27 Jun. 2011 |
List of Laws and Regulations are updated. |
| 28 Apr. 2011 |
Australia (Patents Act), Cambodia(Patent Law and Trademark Law), Denmark(Patents Act,Patents Regulations and Trade Marks Act), Hungary(Utility Model Act and Industrial Design Act), Kyrgyzstan(Patent Law), Malaysia(Patents Regulations and Trademarks Regulations), Netherlands(Patent Act), Norway(Trade Marks Regulations), Papua New Guinea(Patent Law and Patent Regulations), Poland(Industrial Design Regulation), Portugal(Industrial Property Code), Romania(Industrial Design Law), Spain(Trademark Act), Sri Lanka(Code of Intellectual Property Act), Ukraine(Trademark Law), United Kingdom(Registered Design Act), United States of America(Manual of Patent Examining Procedures Chapter 600 and Manual of Patent Examining Procedures Chapter 700), Uzbekistan(Trademarks Law) |
| 24 Dec. 2010 |
Australia(Patents Act,
Patents Regulations,
Designs Act,
Trade Marks Act),
Greece(Patent Law),
Hong Kong(Patents Ordinance,
Registered Designs Ordinance,
Trade Marks Ordinance),
Hungary(Patents Act,
Trademark Act),
IRELAND(Patents Acts),
Lithuania(Patent Law,
Industrial Design Law,
Trade Marks Law),
New Zealand(Patents Acts),
Singapore(Designs Act),
Turkey(Industrial Design Regulations),
United Kingdom(Patent Act,
Patent Rules),
United States of America(Patent Regulations,
Trademark Law),
EUROPEAN COMMUNITY(Council Regulation on the Community designs,
Commission Regulation on the Community designs) |
| 5 Aug. 2010 |
JAPAN (Cabinet Secretariat Website), Republic of Korea (Link to KIPO), VIETNAM (Intellectual Property Law) |
| 30 Apr. 2010 |
Australia(Patents Regulations,Designs Regulations,Trade Marks Regulations)
France(Intellectual Property Code, Intellectual Property Regulations)
Hong Kong(Patents Ordinance)
Malaysia(Patents Act)
Philippines(Intellectual Property Code, Trademarks Rules and Regulations, Rules and Regulations on Inventions, Rules and Regulations on Utility Models and Industrial Designs, Rules & Regulations on Voluntary Licensing, Rules & Regulations on Administrative Complaints, Rules on Dispute Settlement, Regulations on Inter Parts Proceedings)
Poland(Industrial Property Law, Patent Regulations, Trademark Regulations)
Romania(Patent Law, Patent Regulations, Utility Models Law)
Singapore(Designs Rules, Trade Marks Act, Trade Marks Rules,)
European Patent Office(Guidelines for Examination List of Contents, Guidelines for Examination General Part, Guidelines for Examination/Part A,Guidelines for Examination/Part B,Guidelines for Examination/Part C,Guidelines for Examination/Part D,Guidelines for Examination/Part E) |
| 1 Apr. 2010 |
Germany(Patent Act) |
| 4 Mar. 2010 |
Singapore(Trade Marks International Registration Rules) |
| 15 Jan. 2010 |
Germany(Patent Act) |
| 25 Dec. 2009 |
United Kingdom(Trade Marks Act, Trademarks Rules),
Norway(Patents Act,
Patents Regulations),
Hungary(Patent Act,
Trademark Act),
Finland(Patents Act,
Patents Decree),
Bulgaria(Industrial Design Law,
Trademark Law,
Trademark Regulations),
Latvia(Patent Law),
Canada(Industrial Design Regulations,
Trade-marks Act),
Sri Lanka(Intellectual Property Regulations),
India(Designs Rules),
European Patent Office(Implementing Regulations to the Convention on the grant of European Patents),
Eurasian Patent Office(Patent Regulations under the Patent Convention) |
| 16 Oct. 2009 |
Chinese Taipei
(Patent Regulations,
Trademark Regulations),
Vietnam
(Decree of Industrial Property,
Decree of IPR Protection and Management,
Decree of Providing for Sanctioning of Administrative Violations,)
Lao PDR
(Intellectual Property Laws,
Decree of Prime Minister on Trademarks) |
| 27 Apr. 2009 |
Bulgaria
(Patent Law),
Latvia
(Industrial Design Law),
Lithuania
(Patent Law,
Industrial Design Law,
Trade Marks Law),
Philippines
(Intellectual Property Regulations),
Saudi Arabia
(Trade Marks Law,
Trade Marks Rules),
Switzer Land (Industrial Design Law),
United Kingdom
(Patent Rules,
Registered Design Rules,
Trademark Act,
Trademark Rules),
United States of America (Patent Law,
Patent Regulations,
Trademark Law,
Trademark Regulations),
European Patent Office
(Rules Relating to Fees) |
| 26 Dec. 2008 |
Australia
(PatentRegulation,
DesignRegulation,
TrademarksRegulation),
Canada
(PatentRules,
IndustrialDesignRegulations,
Trade-markRegulations),
Denmark
(UtilityModelsAct),
Finland
(UtilityModelAct,
TrademarksAct),
India
(PatentRules),
New Zealand
(PatentRegulations,
DesignAct,
TrademarksRegulations),
Republic of Korea
(PatentActEnforcementDecree,
TradeMarksAct),
Singapore
(Patents Act,
Patents Rules) |
| 14 Oct. 2008 |
Brunei
(Inventions Law,
Trademarks Law,
Trademarks Rules)
New Zealand (Patent Regulations,
Design Act,
Trademarks Regulations) |
| 12 Sep.2008 |
India
(Designs Rules) |
| 25 July 2008 |
Belarus
(Patent Law,
Trademarks Law,
Bulgaria
(Industrial Design Law,
Trademark Law),
Finland
(Patents Act,
Patents Decree,
Registered Designs Act),
Hong Kong(Patents (General) Rules,
Patents (Transitional Arrangements) Rules,
Registered Design Rules,
Trade Marks Ordinance,
Trade Marks Rules),
Latvia
(Trademark Law),
Malaysia
(Patents Act),
New Zealand
(Trade Marks Act),
Republic of Korea
(Patent Act,
Utility Model Act,
Desighn Protection Act),
Republic of South Africa
(Patents Regulations,
Designs Regulations,
Trademark Regulations),
United Kingdom
(Registered Design Act,
Registered Design Rules),
Vietnam
(Intellectual Property Law,
Industrial Property Detailing on Industtrial Desighns ) |
| 3 Mar.2008 |
Administrative Instructions for the Application of the Madrid Agreement Concerning the International Registration of Marks and the Protocol Relating Thereto |
- <Contact>
- Developing Country Cooperation Section,
- International Affairs Division,
- Japan Patent Office
- FAX:+81-3-3581-0762
- E-mail:PA0870@jpo.go.jp
[Last updated 13 September 2011]
