Japanese Intellectual Property, Patent and Trademark Law Firm in Japan

The accelerated examination system is a system that expedites the examination compared to the regular examination schedule of the patent office, upon applicant's request.

■　Applications eligible for accelerated examination

An application for design registration must meet the requirements in (1) or (2) below to be eligible for accelerated examination.

Please note that applications containing new subject matters of design protection under the revised Design Act in 2019 (effective as from Apr. 1, 2020), namely, designs of buildings, graphic images and interiors are, for the present, not eligible for accelerated examination for the purpose of securing adequate examination quality.

(1) Working-related applications with urgent need for design registration

Where the applicant themselves or their licensee has already worked the design in the application, or considerably advanced the preparation for working of the design, if any of the following cases are applicable (meaning that the design needs to be registered urgently), the application is eligible for accelerated examination.

i) It is clear that a third party has, without consent, worked, or considerably advanced the preparation for working, the design in the application or a design similar to the design in the application.

ii) The applicant or their licensee has received a warning from a third party regarding the working, or the preparation for working, of the design in the application.

iii) The applicant has received a request from a third party to give them a consent to work the design in the application.

(2) Internationally-filed applications

Where the applicant has also filed with foreign IP offices other than the JPO a design application which contains the same design as in the design application having been filed with the JPO, the application is eligible for accelerated examination.

Submission of a “Written Explanation of the Needs for Accelerated Examination" is required to apply for accelerated examination.

Please feel free to contact us for further information.