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FAQs - Trademark
- Trademark prosecution in Japan begins with filing a trademark application with the Japan Patent Office (JPO). Once a trademark is registered, the owner (or holder) of the trademark has an exclusive right to use the registered trademark in the designated goods or designated services. The use of registered trademark is one of the best ways to protect your company's brand and reputation. Incidentally, the period of a trademark right is just ten years from the date of registration, but may be renewed every ten years.
- It is supposed that a trademark application had been "used commercially before the filing date" or would be "used commercially within a certain period after the filing date". Thus, it should be noted that if a registered trademark has not been used for three consecutive years, then anyone may file a request for a trial for cancellation of such trademark registration.
- If you need to get a trademark protection in Japan, refer to the following FAQs.
Trademark in Japan: FAQs
Japanese Trademark Law provides it protects character(s), figure(s), sign(s), 3-dimensional shape(s) and any combination thereof as trademark. It also protects a movable mark, a holographical mark, a mark consisting of color(s), sound(s) and specified position(s).
Yes. You can register your mark using for providing services.
All required documents should be prepared in Japanese except for an application based on the Madrid System.
You can find those on the following web site.
You can search efficiently by using J-PlatPat. If you use it for the first time, please refer to the help page of J-PlatPat. We also recommend to read the Manual of J-PlatPat.
A duration of a trademark right is 10 years. You can also renewal the duration again and again. An application for renewal of duration should be filed from the last day of its duration to 6 months before. Even if you fail to file an application for renewal of duration, you can file it until 6 months after by paying extra fee.
Yes. You can get a trademark right in Japan via the Madrid Protocol.
Usually a mark which consists of a region name and a product (or service) name is not protected as a trademark unless the mark has well known in Japan as a whole. In order to activate a regional economy, Japan revised a Trademark Law to introduce the Regional Collective Trademark. A mark which consists of a region name and a product (or service) name is protected as the Regional Collective Trademark even if it has well known in the region only.
