Japan’s Accession to the Patent Law Treaty
Japan acceded to the Patent Law Treaty and it came into force for Japan. In line with this, the Act for the Partial Revision of the Patent Act and Other Acts, which includes provisions to ensure implementation of the provisions of the Patent Law Treaty, already came into force on April 1, 2016.
The purpose of this Treaty is to harmonize and simplify the procedures with respect to patent applications which vary between countries, and this Treaty is thereby intended to improve user-friendliness for applicants and mitigate their burden. Thus it is expected that this Treaty will make it easier for applicants to file patent applications than in the former practice.
As of 2021, 42 countries, including the U.K., the U.S., France and Australia, are the Contracting Parties to this Treaty.