Japanese IP Statistics Report 2024

2024-05-29

The JPO has issued the Japanese IP Statistics Report 2024. We would like to briefly introduce the latest trends in Japanese IPR filings in line with the Report. It should be noted that the following figures are extracted from the Report.

Number of Patent Applications

Number of patent applications in 2023: 300,133
‐Number of patent applications via PCT route: 75,687
‐Number of patent applications excluding the PCT route: 224,446

The number of patent applications in 2023 increased by 10K from 2022, returning to 300K level.

Trends in the nationalities 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 be seen that the majority of Japanese applications from foreign countries are filed via PCT route.

While the number of domestic applications filed by Japanese applicants in 2022 was 190K, the number of domestic applications filed by Japanese applicants in 2023 was 199K. This means that the number of patent applications in 2023 increased due to domestic applications.

It is interesting to note that, in incoming cases filed by foreign applicants, non-Japanese language foreign applications are actively used among European and US applicants, while they are not actively used among East Asian applicants.

Number of Utility Model Applications

Number of utility model applications in 2023: 4,949

Number of Design Applications

Number of design applications in 2023: 31,747

Number of Trademark Applications

Number of applications for trademark registration in 2023: 164,061

The number of trademark applications peaked in 2017 and has continued to decline. In particular, the number of trademark applications filed by Japanese SMEs has been declining since 2019.

Trends in Examination results

Trends in the number of patent applications, the number of patent registrations, and the percentage of patent registrations are shown below (The horizontal axis indicates filing year).

The number of patent registrations is stable for each filing year. The patent registration rate is approximately 60% for patent applications filed in 2015-2018.

As shown below, the success rate of appeals against examiner’s decision of rejection (not including the number of registrations in pre-trial re-examination) was 78% in 2023. For the past several years, the success rate of appeals has been in the latter half of 70%.

It is noteworthy that the success rate of appeals is high in Japan. This may be due in part to the fact that the scope of claim(s) is narrowed by amendments made in response to an office action issued by the Board of Appeal.

Number of Oppositions

The number of oppositions to patents and trademarks is shown below. The number of oppositions to patents began to increase in 2021. The number of oppositions to patents was a record 1411 in 2023.

Number of Requests for Invalidation Trials

The number of requests for invalidation trials in each law category is shown below. In recent years, the number of requests for invalidation trials for patents and trademarks has hovered around 100.

In particular, while the number of patent oppositions is increasing, the number of requests for patent invalidation trials is gradually decreasing. It is considered that oppositions are more user friendly than invalidation trials in terms of dummy request, JPO fees, attorney fees, and other factors, although they must be filed within 6 months from the date of patent publication.

Examination Period

Patent applications

FA (First Action) period* for super accelerated examination: 0.8 months
FA period for accelerated examination: 2.2 months
FA period for normal examination: 10.0 months
The average duration of pendency from request for examination to grant: 14.7 months

*The FA period means the average number of months from a request for examination to the receipt of the first examination result.

Design Applications