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Japanese Patent Application FAQs
Expedited Examination
1. Does the Japanese Patent Office have a practice by which an applicant can petition the Patent Office to expedite the prosecution of a patent application? If so, what are the circumstances that would allow an applicant to expedite the prosecution?
Yes. The following circumstances will allow an applicant to expedite prosecution:
1) If the application has been filed in a foreign country (any countries outside Japan).
2) If a licensee of the application is using or selling the invention in Japan.
To expedite examination, first, a request for examination must be filed. Then, it is necessary to file a petition for expedited examination with the JPO after the examination request is filed. We need a copy of examination reports issued by foreign Patent offices for corresponding foreign patents, i.e., office actions, to prepare such a petition. We also need a copy of all responses to these office actions. However, we will not submit the examination reports and the response to the JPO (we only need the documents for preparation). Our basic service fee for filing such a petition is approximately 200,000 yen. No official fee will be incurred.
If there are no examination results in foreign countries for the original application, it is necessary to search for the closest prior art pertaining to the application. The JPO requires an explanation of how and what kind of search was done and the results thereof. We will charge approximately 200,000 yen for such a search.
Typically, you can expect to receive an office action within approximately nine months from the date of filing a petition for accelerated examination for a PCT case (three months from the date of filing a petition for accelerated examination for a Paris Convention case).