Filing in Japan from outside Japan
We are a Japanese firm in Chiba. We file trademark, patent, utility model and design applications with the Japan Patent Office for companies and individuals abroad, and we act as the resident representative Japan requires.
Questions first? Write to nh.koiwa@kaipat.com. A reply comes from the attorney, not a form letter.
Japan does not require use of the mark, or a business presence in the country, before you file. It does require a representative resident in Japan to receive communications from the Patent Office. We act as that representative. Everything else — instructions, documents, questions, payment — happens by email.
For foreign applicants the practical obstacles are usually three: choosing the right classes and wording, understanding what a refusal actually means, and knowing what a filing will cost before committing. Each page below addresses one of them.
Brand names, logos and the goods and services they cover. Fixed professional fee, filing within two business days of payment.
Inventions and technical improvements. Utility models register without substantive examination, which makes them fast.
The shape of a product, and screen designs. Drawings can be prepared here from your product photographs or CAD files.
The Japan Patent Office publishes a standard list of accepted terms for goods and services. Pick from that list and no drafting is needed, and no examiner argues about wording. We put all 16,545 of those terms into a searchable page, in English. The page is open to anyone, with no sign-up.
Also available in Chinese and Korean. Searching the list costs nothing; our advice on which classes to claim is US$100, and a clearance search of earlier Japanese rights is US$250 for the first class.
Kai IPL Office has worked with about 5,000 clients. The attorney who answers your first email is the attorney who files the case and who argues it if the examiner objects. There is no account manager in between, and the file does not change hands.