Digitization Fee for documentation submitted in paper form

The Japan Patent Office digitizes all procedures in the interests of maximum efficiency.

Documentation submitted to the JPO in paper form therefore is digitized, with a minimal digitization fee charged to the applicant.
The rationale behind this is explained below.

Why Digitization?

In 1984, the JPO started a paperless action plan aimed at boosting applicant convenience and reducing overall application processing costs. The plan aims the comprehensive digitization of procedures right through from filings to examinations, trial and appeals decisions, and publication of the applications. Today it has enabled us to achieve a 97 percent online filing rate for patents and utility models.

How does digitization help users? Well, it means that patent applications are processed faster and more efficiently, which reduces application costs. It also feeds information on new patents through to the Japan Platform for Patent Information (J-PlatPat) quickly and extremely accurately, so that users can be sure that their search results are both comprehensive and up to date.

Being able to submit applications in digital form reduces users’ personnel costs as well as postage and other administrative costs, and as such.

Digitization Fee

The JPO accepts documents including patent applications both online and in paper form. While the JPO does accept documents submitted in paper form, if that documents can be submitted online, the applicants are charged the actual cost of digitization. Then, the JPO outsources the digitization process to a registered information processing organization approved by the JPO Commissioner.

Digitization fees will NOT be charged for (a) documentation that cannot be submitted online, such as seal change notifications, and (b) documentation that is physically possible to be submitted online but which pertains to procedures outside of those stipulated in Article 30 of the Enforcement Regulations for the Act on Special Provisions for Procedures related to Industrial Property Right (such as statements of payment for patent fees, etc., and requests for return of patent fees, etc.).

Cost and Payment Method

The digitization fee shall comprise a base fee of JPY2,400 plus JPY800 per page.

Example:
Digitization fee for a one-page trademark application submitted in paper form
JPY2,400 + (1 page x JPY800) = JPY3,200

In the case that documentation for multiple procedures is submitted simultaneously in paper form, the base fee of JPY2,400 will be charged for each procedure.

Example:
Digitization fee for simultaneous submission of (1) request for a patent examination and (2) a two-page amendments:
(1) Patent examination request: JPY2,400 + (1 page x JPY800) = JPY3,200
(2) Amendments: JPY2,400 + (2 pages x JPY800) = JPY4,000
(1) + (2) = JPY7,200

Note: The digitization fee is based on the number of pages after digitization. Therefore, the number of pages counted for digitization fee is not always the same number of pages for actual submitted documents.

Applicants submitting documentation in paper form to the JPO will receive an invoice for the digitization fee directly from the registered information processing organization approximately two weeks from the initial submission date. Please pay the invoiced amount into the account number noted on the invoice.

The invoice must be paid within 30 days of the date on which the documentation was originally submitted to the JPO.

Note: The digitization base fee and fee per page are calculated to cover the digitization processing cost incurred by the registered information processing organization per application.

What is a registered information processing organization?

A registered information processing organization approved by the JPO Commissioner pursuant to the Act has roles to conduct the digitization of documentation and collect digitization fee.

[Last updated 29 February 2024]

Contact

Electronic Data Standards management section in Application Division under Trademark and Customer Relations Department, Japan Patent Office E-mail:PA1650@jpo.go.jp