There is a one-year grace period for a design that has lost a novelty due to an act either by or against the will of the person having the right to obtain the design registration (excluding a design that lost novelty by publication of the design in the Patent Gazette, Utility Model Gazette, Design Gazette, Trademark Gazette or foreign official gazettes equivalent thereto).

Note: The grace period has been extended from six months to one year as of June 9, 2018.  The one-year grace period only applies to design published on or after December 9, 2017.

The application must be filed to the JPO within one-year from the date of disclosure  along with an explicit statement requesting a grace period to take advantage of the grace period pursuant to Section 4 (2) of Japanese Design Law (exceptions to lack of novelty of design).

It is also necessary to submit a certificate/document proving when and how the disclosure was made.  Such a certificate/document and its Japanese translation must be submitted within 30 days from the filing of the design application with the JPO.  The applicant should file an application to the JPO within one-year from the date of disclosure regardless whether Paris Convention Priority is claimed or not.

For further information, please contact us and let us know the circumstances and details.