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I. GENERAL OVERVIEW OF RECENT DEVELOPMENTS IN TRADEMARK INFORMATION ACTIVITIES CARRIED OUT BY THE OFFICE
Outline of main policies and plans aimed at development of trademark information activities and expected time frames for their realization
The outline of main policies and plans of patent information activities have officially been announced in the following report.
“Toward further utilization of patent information” Report, submitted by the subcommittee on dissemination and utilization of patent information consisting of patent information experts, appointed under the Intellectual Property Committee under Industrial Structure Council, the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry, in May 2016.
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(v) External provision of substantive examinations/ appeal examinations related information regarding Design and Trademark.
New projects launched or resumed this year in the context of the policies and plans mentioned above, short description: aims, partners, tasks
Concerning the above (i), the JPO started Foreign Patent Information Service (FOPISER) which enables users to retrieve overseas patent information obtained by data exchange with foreign IP offices in Japanese by means of machine translation in August 2015 and the number of the foreign countries which have agreed to provide their patent information is increasing. For details, see 3.(4) a-3).
Main areas of trademark information activities and related information and communication technology (ICT) practices which were in the focus of attention last year
Toward the realization of “the world’s utmost quality service to provide patent information,” in order to discuss how the measures for disseminating and utilizing patent information should be, the subcommittee on dissemination and utilization of patent information consisting of patent information experts was appointed under the Intellectual Property Committee under Industrial Structure Council, the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry in July 2015. The result of the study was summarized as a report, “Toward further utilization of patent information” in May 2016.
Statistics: changes in terms of application filings and registrations with respect to previous year; trends or areas experiencing rapid changes
In 2016, the number of applications was 161,859 (up 9.9% from the previous year).
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The number of trademark registrations in 2016 was 105,207 (up 7.3% from the previous year).
Other matters and useful links (URLs): annual report of the Office, news page, statistics, etc.
(Annual Report in Japanese) http://www.jpo.go.jp/shiryou/toukei/gyosenenji/index.html
(Status Report in Japanese and English) http://www.jpo.go.jp/english/reference_room/statusreport/index.html
II. SERVICES AND ACTIVITIES RELATED TO TRADEMARK INFORMATION CARRIED OUT BY THE OFFICE
Information and support provided by the Office to applicants regarding filing on paper and/or e-filing (instructions, seminars, etc.) - URLs
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Paper based application
The INPIT provides the free consultation service on the procedures for industrial property rights at the Consultation Department on the second floor of the JPO office building.
Moreover, the portal site for consultation and support on intellectual property is available on a 24-hour basis at http://faq.inpit.go.jp/.
Electronic application
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The e-filing software allows users to conduct administrative procedures such as the filing of applications for patents, utility models, industrial designs and trademarks, and PCT-RO international application, appealing for trials and payment of the annual fees, and receipt of documents dispatched from the JPO, on-line. The software may be downloaded for free at: http://www.jpo.go.jp/tetuzuki/pcinfo/outline/index.html
Availability of the application dossier in electronic form
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On-line reference
The software for electronic application allows users to request or refer to application documents and registers from computers from their home or office, and to make a request for issuing certifications on-line.
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Regarding the software for electronic application, refer to 2.(1) b).
Matters concerning classifying
- Classification activities; classification systems used, e.g., International Classification of Goods and Services for the Purposes of the Registration of Marks (Nice Classification), International Classification of the Figurative Elements of Marks (Vienna Classification), other classification
- Use of electronic classification systems and pre-defined terms of the classification applied
Nice Classification
With an increase in filing applications to and from overseas,
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it is necessary to examine foregin applications smoothly, so in April 1992, the JPO introduced the
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6th edition of the Nice Classification which is an international classification of goods and services as the main classification system. Currently, the JPO adopts the
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11th International classification edition that came into effect on January 1, 2017.
Vienna Classification
The JPO had adopted its own figure classification as a classification of figurative element of mark, and then investigated comparative relations between the Japanese own figure classification and the Vienna Classification from April 1999 to March 2000, in order to use the Vienna Classification which is an international classification.
In consequence, the JPO started examinaitons based on a subdivided Vienna Classification made by subdividing the Viennal Classification (5th edition) in the context of the actual situation of Japan.
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Specifically, the JPO created a subdivided original Vienna Classification by subdividing the Viennal Classification (5th edition) based on the actual situation in Japan, and has utilized it as search keys of Figure trademark search system.
Processing of various types of Non-traditional marks (e.g., 3D, Motion mark, Hologram mark, color mark, etc.)
In order to support various brand strategies of enterprises, the JPO added five types of non-traditional trademark into subject matter for protection in Japanese Trademark Law: “Motion marks,” “Hologram marks,” “Sound marks,” “Color marks”and “Position marks” which had been protected in foreign countries, and has accepted their applications since April 1, 2015. There were 1,522 of those applications as of the end of May 2017 and 257 cases out of them were decided to be registered.
[Referene 1] Breakdown of the number of application
Motion marks: 121, Hologram marks: 17, Sound marks: 535, Color marks: 507, Position marks: 342
[Reference 2] Breakdown of the number of registration
Motion Motion marks: 75, Hologram marks: 10, Sound marks: 137, Color marks: 2, Position marks: 33
Other activities
Nothing in particular
III. SOURCES OF TRADEMARK INFORMATION PROVIDED BY THE OFFICE
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