Article 2 defines an invention as "the highly advanced creation of technical ideas utilizing the law of nature".
In addition, the Industrial Property Digital Library (IPDL) offers public access to IP Gazettes of the Japan Patent Office (JPO) free of charge through the Internet.
Reliable information on Japanese IP law in English is also provided by the websites of Intellectual Property High Court,[3] Japan Patent Office,[4] "Transparency of Japanese Law Project",[5] European Patent Office,[6] and Institute of Intellectual Property (IIP) of Japan.
Article 2, paragraph 1, of the Patent Act of Japan defines invention as "the highly advanced creation of technical ideas by which a law of nature is utilized".
[9] Patent applications are published without a search report after 18 months has expired from the filing date (Article 64).
The applicant, or a third party,[10] may request examination within three years from the filing date (Article 48ter), (this time limit is to be applied for patent applications filed after October 1, 2001) [11] if they stand examination fee (Article 195, paragraph 2).
The applicant may submit a statement or amendments against the reasons for refusal, within a time limit designated by the examiner (Article 17bis and 50).
Opposition procedure after an examiner's decision to grant a patent was abandoned in 2003; trial for invalidation (Article 123) serves as the alternative.
The examiner then issues a decision to grant a patent, or reports to the Commissioner if there are reasons for refusal that have not dissolved by the amendments (Article 164).
In case amendments were not made, or the examiner reported that reasons for refusal still remain, a group of three or five qualified trial examiners (Article 136) conduct the trial by communicating with the applicant in letters (Article 145, paragraph 2).
The patentee may demand restriction of claims, or correction of errors or ambiguity (Article 134bis, added in 2003) to avoid the invalidation.
More detailed description is found in "Examination Guidelines for Patent and Utility Model in Japan"[12] with summaries of significant court decisions.
Sharing the same rule as other jurisdictions, Japanese patent law does not grant exclusionary rights to existing technologies.
[5] After payment of the annual fees for the first three years, a patent right comes into force by registration (Article 66).
[5] In 1998, the Supreme Court of Japan showed in judgment the requirements for applying the doctrine of equivalents.
If during the hearings the court finds that there exists sufficient cause to invalidate the patent, a claim of injunction, damages, or other claims based on such patent would be an extension of rights beyond the scope contemplated under the law unless it can be demonstrated that circumstances exist which justify special treatment.
Summary of the judgment: In the event there is clear and convincing evidence that a patent is invalid, a claim for injunction, damages, or other claims based on such patent is beyond the scope of rights intended by the act, except in extenuating circumstances.
According to statistics of the National Police Agency of Japan, however, only four people were arrested for the infringement of patent in 2003.
(In 1954, the Ministry of International Trade and Industry of Japan declared April 18 to be Invention Day.)
During the Meiji era, all governmental systems underwent frequent changes, and the patent law was no exception.