Since April 2020, designs for images, buildings, and interior designs have been subject to new protection since April 2020, a projection image (area marker), which uses a projection device attached to the body of a motorcycle or other vehicle to project markers onto the road surface to make it more visible to surrounding vehicles, was registered as an image design for the first time in October 2020.
On October 27, 2020, Kansai University set up the INPIT (Industrial Property Information and Training Institute) Osaka Prefecture General Intellectual Property Support Office as a temporary counter within the Kansai University Innovation Creation Center, a joint research center for industry-academia-government collaboration that also supports entrepreneurship.
The Japan Patent Attorneys Association (JPAA) has launched a system to support companies whose revenues and sales have decreased due to the spread of COVID-19 infection by partially subsidizing the costs of patent, utility model and design applications.
The Design Law was radically revised in 2019, and as of April 2020, exterior designs of buildings can be protected by a design right.
An interior design can be protected by the design right if it creates a unified aesthetic impression as a whole, as a single design.
In order to obtain a trademark right at an early stage, an accelerated examination system is available, in which an application is received from the applicant and an examination is carried out earlier than usual.
Normally it takes about a year from the time you file a trademark application until you are notified of the results of the examination, but by using the accelerated examination system, you can shorten the examination period to about two months. In addition, the accelerated examination system does not require a stamp fee to be paid to the Patent Office.
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