As announced on 16 September 2015, the revised ‘Examination Guidelines for Patent and Utility Model in Japan’ (henceforth ‘Revised Examination Guidelines’) and the revised ‘Examination Handbook for Patent and Utility Model in Japan’ (henceforth ‘Revised Examination Handbook’) has been be applied to the examination of patents and utility models on or after 1st October 2015.

The ‘Revised Examination Guidelines’ are explained in more detail in this article in our info center.