Chronology

1400

1474
Venetian Patent Law
(Establishment of First Patent Law)

1500

1600

1624
English patent law

1623
Tokugawa Iemitsu, the third shogun of the Tokugawa family

1700

1752
lightning arrester
(by Franklin)

1790
U.S. Constitution

1791
French patent law

1787
Kansei Reform

1800

1814
locomotive engine invented (by Stephenson)

1815
Russian patent law

1851
sewing machine invented

1867
Italian patent law
dynamite invented (by Nobel)

1853
Commodore Perry's Ships demand opening of Japan

1868
(first year of the Meiji Era)

1877
patent law adopted in unified Germany

1868
Meiji Reforms in Japan

1880

1884 (year 17 of the Meiji Era)
trademark bylaws

1885 (year 18 of the Meiji Era)
Patent Monopoly Act created a founation for a system of patent rights in Japan

1888 (year 21 of the Meiji Era)
design bylaws enacted

1887
phonograph invented to record sound on a plate (by Edison)

1885
the first Itoh cabinet is formed

1890

1890 (year 23 of the Meiji Era)
patent for a wooden weaving machine driven by human power registered (invented by
Sakichi Toyoda)

1892 (year 25 of the Meiji Era)
patent for a dry battery registered (by Senzo Okui)

1894 (year 27 of the Meiji Era)
spherical property adhesion
method patent registered (by Kokichi Mikimoto)

1893
Diesel engine (by Diesel)

1895
wireless communication
method (by Marconi)

1890
traffic between Tokyo and Yokohama opened

1893
Tohoku line opened to traffic

1897
"fashion boom"

1900

1905 (year 38 of the Meiji Era)
new utility model law

1908 (year 41 of the Meiji Era)
patent for manufacture of a condiment having as a main component glutaminic acid soda (by Kikunae Ikeda)

1904
Japanese-Russian war breaks out

1909
Yamanote line starts operations

1912
(first year of the Taisho Era)

1913 (year 2 of the Taisho Era)
patent for tortoise-shaped scrubbing brush registered (by Masaemon Nisio)

1917
Soviet Constitution

1914
Tokyo train station start
operations

1920

1925 (year 14 of the Taisho Era)
patent for directional antenna for electric waves registered (by Syuji Yagi)

1922
Einstein: Japan

1923
Kanto earthquake

1926
(first year of the Showa Era)

1926 (first year of the Showa Era)
patent for phototelegraphic method registered (by Yasujiro Niwa)

1928
penicilin (by Fleming)

1930

1934 (year 9 of the Showa Era)
Old Complex of the Patent Office completed

1935
nylon (by Karohzasu)

1940

1941
polyester (by Whinfield)

1941
Pacific war breaks out

1945
Pacific war ends

1950

1950 (year 25 of the Showa Era)
electrostatic induction field effect transistor patent registered (by Junichi Nishizawa)

1959 (year 34 of the Showa Era)
Patent Law, New Utility Model Law, Design Law, revised Trademark Law

1952
NHK broadcasts start (Tell me your Name)

1958
the 10,000 yen note is issued

1960

1963 (year 38 of the Showa Era)
patent for synthetic leather registered (by Fukujima)

1967 (year 42 of the Showa Era)
patent for color image reception tube using the trinitron method registered (by Susumu Yoshida and 2 others)

1967
World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) founded

1964
Tokyo Olympics
traffic on Tokaido Shinkansen Line starts

1970

1975 (year 50 of the Showa Era)
Japan joins the World Intellectual Property Right Organization

1978 (year 60 of the Showa Era)
international applications based on the Patent Cooperation Treaty start

1973
European Patent Treaty

1970
Osaka International Expo

1972
Okinawa returned

1980

1989
(first year of the Heisei Era)

1985 (year 60 of the Showa Era)
100 years of the industrial property rights system

1989 (first year of the Heisei Era)
the Present Patent Office Complex completed

1982
high-speed traffic starts on the Shinkansen line

1988
Seikan tunnel operations start

1990

1990 (year 2 of the Heisei Era)
first electronic applications in the world are accepted

1992 (year 4 of the Heisei Era)
system for registration of service marks introduced<

1994 (year 6 of the Heisei Era)
system for unexamined new utility models introduced

1995 (year 7 of the Heisei Era)
applications for patents are
now accepted in English
Patent number 2 million issued

1996 (year 8 of the Heisei Era)
system for filing objections after a patent has been granted is introduced

1997 (year 9 of the Heisei Era)
Accession to the Trademark Law Treaty

1998 (year 10 of the Heisei Era)
Acceptance of electronic applications via personal computer

1999 (year 11 of the Heisei Era)
Opening of the Industrial Property Digital Library (IPDL)

1995
World Trade Organization (WTO) founded

1992
Yamagata Shinkansen line starts operations

1995
Hanshin/Awaji Earthquake

1998
Nagano Winter Olympics

2000

2000 (year 12 of the Heisei Era)
Digitization of procedures related to designs, trademarks and appeals (final decisions)
Accession to the Madrid Protocol

2001 (year 13 of the Heisei Era)
The National Center for Industrial Property Information (NCIPI) becomes an independent administrative institution

2002 (year 14 of the Heisei Era)
Formulation of Intellectual Property Policy Outline
Basic law on Intellectual Property

2003 (year 15 of the Heisei Era)
Establishment of Intellectual Property Strategy Headguarters
Formulation of The Program for Promoting the Creation,Protection and Exploitation of Intellecttual Property

2001
The first World Intellectual Property Day (April 26) Social Trends

2001
Central Government Reform

2002
FIFA World Cup Joint Hosts: Japan and Korea