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March 2010

1. The JPO issued a Draft Revision of the Design Examination Standard for Examination Procedures
2. Japan National Police Agency administering “P2P monitoring system”
3. Proposal of the JEPA on the e-Books distribution concept of the National Diet Library

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February 2010

1. Downloading of illegal files prohibited(a revised copyright law took effect)
2. IBM tops the list of US patents granted in 2009 for the seventeenth successive year
3. Reinforcement of Intellectual property right protection for Shanghai Expo
4. Patent Prosecution Highway (PCT-PPH) between JPO and USPTO,JPO and EPO using PCT international results

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January 2010

1. EU Patent System: a new step forward
2. China surpasses Europe, United States in patent filings growth rate
3. Two iPS cell-related patents are granted in Japan

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December 2009

1. The JPO enhances cooperation with foreign countries
2. “Criteria for Examination of Similar Goods/Services” to be revised
3. Nissan licenses its painting technology related patent to NTT DoCoMo.

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November 2009

1. JPO revises industrially applicable inventions and examination guidelines for medical inventions
2. “Green” applications become eligible for Accelerated examination
3. ITC to investigate an alleged car patent infringement by Toyota
4. Third revision of Chinese industrial property law on patent, utility model and design
5. Supreme Court of Japan orders a ban on the sales of budget Charlie Chaplin DVDs
6. China remains the world’s trademark powerhouse – 2009 filings exceed one million cases

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October 2009

1. The JPO implements a prior art search support program for fiscal year 2009
2. The University of Tsukuba develops an automatic structure for a patent glossary in collaboration with NEDO
3. Japan and China agree to strengthen their cooperation regarding the protection of intellectual property rights in the field of trademark matters and counterfeiting control
4. Japan-Canada PPH program starts on a trial basis, while JPO establishes specialized PPH website
5. Expansion of the Super Accelerated Examination to PCT National Phases in Japan

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September 2009

1. Japanese government is considering a reinforcement of the measures regarding unused trademarks
2. JPO publishes a draft revision of the Examination Guidelines regarding“industrially applicable inventions” and “medicinal inventions”

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August 2009

1. Japanese government issues the 2009 Plan for the Promotion of Intellectual Property
2. Patent Prosecution Highway continues its worldwide expansion with the inclusion of Hungary
3. China tightens its trademark examination
4. Sony joins a defensive service against patent trolls

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July 2009

1. Microsoft files a patent application for a Magic Wand
2. Microsoft and Hewlett-Packard renew patent cross-license agreement

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June 2009

1. Japan holds over 70% of next-generation car patent applications, according to a JPO survey
2. EU Parliament extends copyright term for performing musicians
3. Video content: establishment of a centralized organization for copyright handling
4. McDonald's vs. McCurry : no trademark infringement, says Malaysian Court of Appeal

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May 2009

1. ITC recognizes Funai's claims in TV patent infringement case
2. Patent Prosecution Highway: Japan secures an agreement with a sixth country while worldwide use of the program is on the rise
3. Spansion and Samsung settle a patent infringement dispute regarding flash memory technology
4. China tops world trademark rankings for the seventh consecutive year
5. Microsoft and TomTom settle a patent infringement litigation

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April 2009

Regarding the revision of the Japanese Industrial Property Law to take effect on April 1, 2009

1. Introduction.
2. Reconsideration of the registration system for non-exclusive license.
3. Extension of the period for demanding an appeal.
4. Expansion to additional countries of the electronic exchange system of priority documents.

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March 2009

1. The JPO releases a series of videos on its website to introduce the Japanese Design System
2. The Agency for Cultural Affairs discloses a draft government ordinance adding Blue-ray discs to the Compensatory payment system; gathers public feedback; implementation scheduled for April 1, 2009
3. The JPO releases a draft revision of the Handbook of Guidelines for the Formal Examination regarding provisional patent licensing and gathers public feedback
4. The JPO sets up a online database of specialists to support the use of intellectual property in the business strategies of local communities and medium-sized and small companies

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February 2009

1. Determination of the date of enforcement of a number of revisions to Japanese Intellectual Property Law, including the reconsideration of the registration system for non-exclusive licenses
2. Revision of the Japan Copyright Law: download of pirated versions by using peer-to-peer software to become illegal
3. The National People's Congress of China adopts the revision of the Patent Law
4. Sounds and moving images may become registrable as trademarks

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January 2009

1. New venture set up to protect companies against patent trolls
2. U.S. judicial precedent regarding the overcoming of a rejection through commercial success
3. A revision of the patent law brings an increase in the number of plant seed-related patent applications in Korea
4. The Japan Patent Office (JPO) publishes the results of a case study on inventive step as part of the comparative studies of examination practice conducted by the Trilateral Offices

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December 2008

1. The JPO has started from October to accept applications for a revised registration system of non-exclusive license
2. Federal Appeals Court rejects a business model invention due to lack of patentability
3. The EPO takes a step towards unification regarding the patentability of computer programs
4. The JPO publishes a digest regarding the necessity of microorganism deposit, starts to gather opinions from the public

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November 2008

1. The JPO starts the pilot program Super Accelerated Examination
2. Trademark registration: Japanese place name Sanuki, already registered in Taiwan, is now applied for in China
3. Microsoft wins a patent infringement suit connected to MP3 technology
4. Publication of the Japan Patent Office Annual Report 2008

Download(PDF 905KB)

October 2008

1. JPO starts a trial version of the Patent Strategy Portal Site
2. Bosch, DuPont and Xerox join the Eco-Patent Commons program to help the environment by releasing ecological patents
3. The DVD6C reduces royalty rates on DVD decoders and DVD encoders
4. A patent infringement suit against Nintendo's Wii has been filed
5. US court (CAFC) rules that open source software can be covered by copyright
6. A handling guideline of period in which applicant including resident outside Japan may file an appeal under the law revised in 2008.

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September 2008

1. Osaka's emblematic restaurant Kuidaore shuts down
2. Japan filing the highest number of patent applications in the world; China rapidly progressing (WIPO announcement)
3. Nissan Motor to start a fully-fledged license business centered on the company's own technology

Download(PDF 877KB)