Design Registration in Japan

A design application in Japan is filed with and examined by the Japan Patent Office (JPO). A design must satisfy requirements such as novelty and creative difficulty in order to obtain registration.

Japan protects not only the overall appearance of a product but also partial designs, graphical user interfaces (GUIs), buildings, and interior designs under certain conditions.

Partial Designs

Under the Japanese Design Act, it is possible to obtain protection for a specific part of a product, rather than the entire product.

A partial design application is particularly useful where the commercially important or distinctive feature is limited to a particular portion of the product. The portion for which protection is sought is generally identified clearly in the drawings, while the remaining portion is shown in a manner indicating that it is not part of the claimed design.

Partial design protection can therefore be useful in preventing competitors from incorporating the characteristic part of a design into products whose overall appearance is different.

Related Designs

Japan also has a Related Design System, which allows variations of a principal design to be protected under certain conditions.

This system is useful where a number of products or design variations are developed based on a common design concept, and broader protection for a design series is desired.

Application Procedure

The general procedure is:

Application → Examination by the JPO → Decision of Registration → Payment of Registration Fee → Registration

Japan conducts substantive examination of design applications. If the JPO finds grounds for refusal, an Office Action will be issued, and the applicant may file a Written Argument and/or Amendment.

Required Information and Documents

We generally require:

Applicant's name and address
Drawings or photographs showing the design
Name of the article, building, graphic image, or other subject matter
Brief explanation of the design, if necessary
Priority information, if priority is claimed

Careful preparation of the drawings or photographs is particularly important because the scope of a Japanese design right is determined based on the design disclosed in the application.

For partial designs, it is particularly important to clearly distinguish the portion for which protection is sought from the remaining portion of the product.