On March 5, 2021, the Ministry of Finance (MOF) disclosed the status of injunctions against counterfeit brand-name goods and other intellectual property infringing goods at customs nationwide for fiscal year 2020.
The number of import injunctions increased 26.6% over the previous year to 30,305, the first time in three years that the number exceeded 30,000.
On March 2, 2021, the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI) announced that the Cabinet had approved the "Draft Law for Partial Revision of the Patent Law, etc.".
It will be submitted to the current Diet session and will be enforced by the end of FY2021.
On March 16, 2021, the JPO added an explanation of the PPH portal site to the JPO Quick Reads.
The Japan Patent Office (JPO) has announced that the Patent Prosecution Highway (PPH) with the Brazilian Industrial Property Office (INPI) will allow one application per week starting January 1, 2021.
Until now, the number of applications has been limited to one per month per applicant.
On January 7, 2021, the Japan Patent Office (JPO), in response to the declaration of an emergency situation based on the Law Concerning Special Measures against COVID-19 being issued in the four prefectures of Tokyo, Kanagawa, Saitama, and Chiba, notified the public that, in order to prevent the spread of the infection and maintain socioeconomic activities, it will not, in principle, stop accepting applications at the counter or conduct face-to-face interviews and examinations.
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