IPR

About the Factsheet

What should be known about the EPA and intellectual property rights (IPRs)?

About the Report

This report aims to provide valuable assistance to European businesses wishing to export their products in Japan and help them avoid some of the most common pitfalls. It will help European companies to expand their businesses in Japan and get to grips with the basics of Japanese market standards, export regulations and legal issues.

About the Report

This report examines Japan’s intellectual property system, outlining Japan-specific intellectual property rights, instructions for applying to Japan’s patent office, as well as the enforcement of intellectual property rights in Japan. The report also explains several important differences between Japanese and EU law concerning intellectual property rights.

How can we search Japanese patent information online and understand the information retrieved?

No prior knowledge of the Japanese patent system, patent documentation or available sources required.

Japanese companies continue to file a steady number of around 350 000 patent applications per year – a huge repository of prior art which European industry simply cannot afford to ignore. This is especially true for those technological areas where Japan is particularly strong.

How to utilize Japanese Intellectual Property System from abroad?

Nowadays, we have very complex technologies and intellectual property issues cause a number of problems which have attracted much interest in society.

Japan is signatory to most of the international treaties regarding intellectual property rights.  Therefore, to the extent that the international treaties are relevant, general schemes for protection and prosecution of intellectual property rights under the intellectual property laws of Japan are similar to those of other signatory countries.