Examinations

	First Action Pendency	Accelerated Examination	Total Pendency
Patent	9.4 months	2.3 months	14.6 months
Design	6.1 months	1.9 months	7.0 months
Trademark	4.9 months	1.8 months	6.8 months

 

Number of Patent Registrations, etc. by Filing Year

	2003	2004	2005	2006	2007	2008	2009	2010
Number of Patent Applications	413,008	423,017	426,974	408,569	396,160	390,879	348,429	344,397
Number of Requests for Examination	274,752	280,250	277,797	260,221	252,485	257,116	233,901	233,780
Number of Patent Registrations	148,587	154,942	161,363	163,773	166,612	174,824	166,916	173,298

 

	2011	2012	2013	2014	2015	2016	2017
Number of Patent Applications	342,312	342,589	328,138	325,688	318,345	317,922	318,028
Number of Requests for Examination	232,471	237,906	233,708	233,963	169,285	108,391	67,010
Number of Patent Registrations	175,818	182,416	171,077	111,645	65,761	37,977	8,831

Notes:
– The number of patent registrations, etc. by filing year does not include the number of applications for registration of extension of the duration of a right.
– The number of patent registrations by filing year is a provisional figure as of March 6, 2018.
– The numbers of requests for examination by filing year in applications from 2015 to 2017 are provisional figures as of March 6, 2018.

 

Top 10 Companies with the Most Number of Patent Registrations in 2017

Rank in 2016	Rank in 2017		Applicant	Number of Registrations
(3)		1	Mitsubishi Electric Corporation	4,484 (4,042)
(1)		2	Canon Inc.	3,931 (4,095)
(4)		3	TOYOTA MOTOR CORPORATION	3,378 (3,717)
(2)		4	Panasonic Intellectual Property Management Co., Ltd.	2,990 (4,046)
(8)		5	Honda Motor Co., Ltd.	2,502 (2,144)
(9)		6	Ricoh Company, Ltd.	2,468 (2,142)
(5)		7	FUJITSU LIMITED	2,431 (2,399)
(6)		8	DENSO CORPORATION	2,110 (2,374)
(7)		9	SEIKO EPSON CORPORATION	1,971 (2,281)
(11)		10	TOSHIBA CORPORATION	1,753 (1,647)

Notes:
– Numbers in parentheses are for 2016.
– Each applicant was counted in the case joint applicants filed.

 

Number of Patent Applications Filed by Universities, etc., in Japan.

Notes:
– Applications by filed a university president, university, or approved TLO were counted.
– The count includes joint applications with corporations, etc.

 

Number of Design Applications

Notes:
– The number of international applications for design registration is the number of international applications under the Geneva Act of the Hague Agreement concerning the International Registration of Industrial Designs (the Geneva Act) that designate Japan as a designated contracting party and that has been published by the International Bureau. The number of applications was counted by the international publication date.
– The JPO began to process international applications filed under to the Geneva Act on May 13, 2015.

 

Number of Design Registrations

 

Companies with the Most Number of Design Registrations in 2017

Rank in 2016	Rank in 2017		Applicant	Number of Registrations
(2)		1	Mitsubishi Electric Corporation	429 (415)
(1)		2	Panasonic Intellectual Property Management Co., Ltd.	413 (430)
(3)		3	Okamura Corporation	360 (335)
(117)		4	Dyson technology Ltd.	231 (34)
(6)		5	Sharp Corporation	201 (215)
(37)		6	Nippon Steel & Sumitomo Metal Corporation	199 (70)
(4)		7	LIXIL Corporation	167 (316)
(5)		8	Honda Motor Co., Ltd.	156 (233)
(10)		9	Dai Nippon Printing Co., Ltd.	132 (141)
(11)		10	FP Corporation	131 (133)

Notes:
– The numbers in parentheses are for 2016.
– In the case joint applicants filed, each applicant was counted.

 

Number of Trademark Applications

Notes:
– The number of trademark applications includes applications for defensive mark registration and applications for renewal based on defensive mark registration.
– The number of international applications for trademark registration is the number of international applications under the Protocol Relating to the Madrid Agreement which designate Japan and for which their designated states were noticed to the JPO. The number of the applications were counted by the date of the notification.

 

Number of Trademark Registrations

Notes:
– The numbers of trademark registrations includes applications for renewal

 

Top 10 Companies with the Most Number of Trademark Registrations in 2017

Rank in 2016	Rank in 2017		Applicant	Number of Registrations
(1)		1	Sanrio Company, Ltd	553 (939)
(2)		2	Shiseido Company, Limited	497 (539)
(4)		3	Kao Corporation	326 (330)
(9)		4	Kobayashi Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd.	212 (181)
(7)		5	Meiji Co., Ltd	202 (206)
(3)		6	KOSE Corporation	201 (331)
(10)		7	Panasonic Corporation	194 (173)
(5)		8	FUJITSU LIMITED	183 (309)
(28)		9	NTT DOCOMO, INC.	179 (101)
(8)		10	MORINAGA MILK INDUSTRY CO., LTD.	169 (197)

Notes:
– The numbers in parentheses are for 2016.
– In the case joint applicants filed, each applicant was counted

 

Number of Requests for Appeal against an Examiner’s Decision of Refusal

 

Number of Requests for Trial for Invalidation

 

Number of Oppositions (based on the number of rights opposed)

Notes:
The system of opposition to grant of patent entered into force on April 1, 2015.

 

Number of Revocation Actions against Trial/Appeal Decisions in 2017

	Patent and Utility Model	Design	Trademark
Ex-parte appeal	46 (77)	4 (22)	15 (11)
Inter-partes trial	110 (115)	4 (4)	45 (39)
Opposition	11 (3)		2 (8)

Notes:
The numbers in parentheses are for 2016.
1 This includes appeals against examiner’s decision of refusal, and appeals against examiner’s decision to dismiss amendments.
2 This includes trials for invalidation, trials for rescission, and trials for correction.

 

Number of Court Decisions in Revocation Actions against Trial/Appeal Decisions in 2017

	Patent and Utility Model		Design		Trademark
	Dismissal of Action	Revocation of Decision	Dismissal of Action	Revocation of Decision	Dismissal of Action	Revocation of Decision
Ex-parte appeal	42 (48)	8 (11)	4 (1)	4 (13)	10 (12)	1 (3)
Inter-partes trial	58 (54)	36 (23)	3 (3)	0 (0)	27 (23)	10 (9)
Opposition	1 (0)	2 (0)			0 (5)	0 (0)

Notes:
The numbers in parentheses are for 2016.
1 This includes appeals against examiner’s decision of refusal, and appeals against examiner’s decision to dismiss amendments.
2 This includes trialsfor invalidation, trials for rescission, and trials for correction.