Japan Patent Office Annual Report 2008

The Japan Patent Office Annual Report 2008 has been published to provide other countries and regions with information on patent administration in Japan. The English version of the Japan Patent Office Annual Report 2008 contains information extracted from the Japanese version, regarding JPO policies and statistical data.

Outline of the Annual Report 2008

The Japan Patent Office Annual Report 2008 consists of five parts. The first four parts are concerned with JPO policies. In the fifth part, statistical data is displayed.

Cover (PDF:166KB)

Preface (PDF:69KB)

Table of Contents (PDF:94KB)

Part 1 Trends of Industrial Property Rights (PDF:631KB)

Chapter 1 Circumstances of Application and Registration and Current Status of Examination and Appeals/Trials at Home and Abroad

1. Patent
   
2. Utility Model
   
3. Design
   
4. Trademark
   
5. Appeals and Trials
   

Part 2 Government Efforts in Intellectual Property Activities (PDF:2,385KB)

Chapter 1 Efforts for Overall Intellectual Property

1. Current Status of Intellectual Property Strategies in Recent Years
   
2. Intellectual Property Strategic Program 2008
   
3. Efforts for agriculture-commerce-industry collaboration for intellectual property

Chapter 2 Efforts Related to Patents

1. Securing a Necessary Number of Examiners through Employing New Fixed-term Examiners
   
2. Increase in Volume of the Outsourcing of Prior Art Document Searches to the Private Sector
   
3. Promotion of Quality Management of Patent Examination
   
4. Efforts to Conduct Patent Examinations that Meet the Needs of Applicants
   
5. Promotion of International Cooperation for Patent Examination

Chapter 3 Efforts Related to Designs

1. Clarification of the Details of the Determination in Design Examinations
   
2. Provision of Design-Related Information
   
3. Accelerated Examination for Anti-Counterfeiting Measures
   
4. Newly Introduced System in accordance with the Revised Design Act

Chapte 4 Efforts Related to Trademarks

1. Implementation of Accelerated Examination Based on Applicant Needs
   
2. Efforts Related to Regionally-Based Collective Trademarks
   
3. Introduction of Trademark System for Retail and Wholesale Services

Chapter 5 Efforts Related to Appeals and Trials

1. Efforts to Improve the Quality of Appeal/Trial Examination
   
2. Measures for Timely Trials
   
3. Efforts to Reform the Structure of Appeals and Demands for Trials in the Patent System
   
4. Promotion of a Paperless Appeal/Trial Environment
   
5. Efforts in Line with Amendments of the Industrial Property System

Chapter 6 Law Revision in 2008

1. Partial Amendment of Patent Act and other IP-related Acts
   

Part 3 Measures for Private Companies and Universities (PDF:1,485KB)

Chapter 1 Support for SMEs

1. Comprehensive Support Measures for SMEs
   
2. Regional Support Frameworks

Chapter 2 Support for Universities

1. Current Circumstance of Intellectual Property Activities at Universities
   
2. Efforts to Support the Intellectual Property Activities at Universities

Chapter 3 Support for Patent Utilization

1. Measures for Encouraging Patent Licensing
   
2. Achievements of Measures for Encouraging Patent Licensing

Chapter 4 Support for Activities through Information Technology

1. Further Promotion of the Use of Information Technology
   
2. Promotion of Provision of Industrial Property Information
   
3. Information Provided on the JPO Website
   
4. Plan for Optimization of JPO Operations and Systems

Chapter 5 Development of Human Resources Related to Intellectual Property

1. Enhancement of IP-Conscious Mind
   
2. Development of Intellectual Property Experts
   

Part 4 International Trends and Efforts (PDF:1,073KB)

Chapter 1 International Trends and Efforts Relating to Patents

1. International Trends of Patent Applications
   
2. Small Group Forums on Patent Field

Chapter 2 International Trends and Efforts Relating to Designs

1. International Trends of Applications for Design Registration
   
2. Examiners’ Meetings in Cooperation with Foreign Intellectual Property Offices

Chapter 3 International Trends and Efforts Relating to Trademarks

1. International Trends of Trademark Applications
   
2. Trilateral Cooperation in the Trademark Field

Chapter 4 International Efforts to Protect Intellectual Property

1. Cooperation with Asian Countries
   
2. Active Cooperation in Developing Countries
   
3. Countermeasures against Counterfeiting Products
   

Part 5 Statistical Data (PDF:567KB)

Back Cover (PDF:166KB)

[Last updated 19 September 2008]