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Renewal fees in Japan must be paid by certain dates. In this section you will find a description of how these renewal due dates are calculated, both the very first renewal due date and all subsequent renewal due dates. No annuities are due throughout the application process. The first annuity is paid 3 months after the grant date to the Japan Patent Office (JPO). This payment must cover the first three annuities.
For example, if the grant date is 2022-01-20, then the first three annuities must be paid by 2022-04-20.
After the first three annuities have been paid, all subsequent annuities must be paid annually on the anniversary of the grant date, starting from three years after the grant date.
For example, if the grant date is 2022-01-20, then the fourth annuity must be paid by 2025-01-20.
In Japan, there are other types of intellectual property besides patents. These include utility models and designs.
We are currently working on articles which will explain the rules for the renewal of these types of intellectual property. If you need any help renewing these and are looking for a cost-efficient solution, get in touch with us.
In Japan you pay an additional fee per claim in addition to the base renewal fee. For example, if you are to pay annuity 4, you will have to pay the base renewal fee plus the claim fee multiplied by the number of claims. For the the purpose of this example we will assume that the patent has 11 claims, which will result in the following calculation:
Base Renewal Fee JPY10,300 + (Claim Fee JPY 800 x Number of claims 11) = JPY 19,100
There are no annuities due in Japan before the patent is granted. Once the patent has been granted, annuities must be paid annually in accordance with the rules described above under the section Due Dates.
The renewal fees in Japan can be settled at any given time. Technically, all annuities can be paid at the same time, meaning that you will only have to pay one, large sum of renewal fee.
Yes, it is possible to renew a Japanese patent after its renewal due date. If you fail to pay the renewal fee before the due date, a grace period of 6 months is given wherein the renewal fees can still be settled. When entering the grace period you will incur a surcharge fee to be settled along with the renewal fee. If you wish to maintain the patent, both the renewal fee and the surcharge fee will have to be settled.
For example, if a patent has a renewal due date of 2021-05-31, and the due date is missed, the patent will enter the grace period from 2021-06-01. After this point both the renewal fee and the surcharge fee will need to be settled by 2021-11-30. Failure to pay these fees before the surcharge due date will result in the patent lapsing.
Yes, you will need assistance from local representation to renew a patent in Japan. It is a requirement to be an authorized representative in order to carry out the renewal of a patent in Japan. Currently, PatentRenewal.com does not have the necessary authorization and we are therefore using a local representative to carry out the renewal process.
It may be possible for the patent owner to carry out the renewal themself, but unless you have experience with paying renewal fees in Japan we will advise you to engage a local representative.
A patent will stay in force for 20 years in Japan from the filing date if successfully renewed in accordance with the rules described above. If the patent is not renewed, it will lapse by the end of the grace period measured from the latest renewal due date.
