The JPO has issued the Status Report 2023. We would like to briefly introduce the latest trends in Japanese IPR filings as seen in this report. The following graphs are extracted from the Status Report 2023.
Number of Patent Applications
Number of patent applications in 2022: 289,530
- Number of PCT applications entering the national phase: 75,892
- Number of patent applications excluding the PCT national phases: 213,638
Trends by nationality of applicants are as follows.
Except for Japan, the number of patent applications filed in Japan was higher in the U.S., China, South Korea, and Germany, in that order. It can also be seen that the majority of Japanese applications from foreign countries are filed via PCT applications.
Number of Utility Model Applications
Number of utility model applications in 2022: 4,513
Number of Design Applications
Number of design applications in 2022: 31,711
Number of Trademark Applications
Number of trademark applications in 2022: 170,275
Examination Trends
The trend in the number of patent registrations is as follows.
It can be seen that the number of patent registrations turned to increase in 2022. Next, the trend in the success rate of appeals against the examiner’s decision of rejection is shown below. 79% of appeals were successful in 2022. This indicates that the rate of successful appeals is increasing year by year.
Number of Oppositions
The number of oppositions to patents and trademarks is shown below. The number of oppositions to patents and trademarks began to increase in 2021.
Number of Requests for Invalidation Trials
The number of requests for invalidation trials in each jurisdiction is shown below. In recent years, the number of requests for invalidation trials for patents and trademarks has been around 100.
Examination Period
Patent applications
- FA (First Action) period* for super accelerated examination: 0.6 months
- FA period for accelerated examination: 2.3 months
- FA period for normal examination: 10.1 months
- The average duration of pendency from a request for examination to grant: 15.2 months
*The FA period means the average number of months between a request for examination and the receipt of the first examination result.
Design Applications
- FA period for accelerated examination: 1.9 months
- FA period for normal examination: 6.4 months
- The average duration of pendency from filing to grant: 7.4 months
Trademark Applications
- FA period for accelerated examination: 1.9 months
- FA period for normal examination: 8.0 months
- The average duration of pendency from filing to grant: 9.6 months
Source
https://www.jpo.go.jp/resources/report/statusreport/2023/index.html
