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Schematic Flow Chart (Japan)

    : Your Action 
    : Japanese Government Action

 Registration 

 Registration 

    Appeal     

  (Respond to the  

   refusal decision) 

   No Appeal   

  (Not to respond to  

 the refusal decision) 

 Patent Granted 

 Patent Refused 

     No Office Action     

(Not to respond to the notification

        of reasons for refusal)        

             Office Action                  

            (Written opinion/amendment)         

(Respond to the notification of reasons for refusal)

You can select 
no office action.

In Japan, an average of 3/4
is allowed by office action.

In Japan, an average of 1/4 is not allowed even by office action.

 Filing as a patent
for entering Japan

 No Request 

 

 Patent Granted 

 Request examination 

Rare case

    Notification of    
 reasons for refusal 

You must request within three years from the international filing date (usualy within18 months from the filing for entering Japan).

You can select 
not to request.
(Note 1)

 Appeal granted 

 Appeal not granted 

Typical Case

 Registration 

You can select 
no appeal.

(Note 2)

 Patent Granted (Registration)

 Patent Denied

Patent Maintenance Process
・Pay annual fees
・After registration, some people oppose the patent grant decision by the Japanese government.  
It is rare. But in this case, you need action. 

Note 1
30% of patents filed to Japan did not request for examination. It means that 30% of companies decided that it was not worth going to the next steps by consideration within the period between filing and request examination (About 18 months in your case).
Note 2
The applicants can appeal against the examiner's Decision of Refusal when the applicants are dissatisfied with the decisions.
Note 3
For cost-saving, you can file as a utility model, not a patent. You don't need a substantive examination before registration. On the other hand, a utility model has demerits. The rights term is ten years (A patent is 20 years.) You need the utility model technical evaluation form made by JPO before exercising your right against other companies. Cases are rare where filing utility models are effective.

Office Action
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