The patent application nondisclosure system started on May 2024, 5.
This system is a system that takes measures such as withholding publication of applications and restricting foreign applications through a procedure called ``Designation of Preservation'' for patent applications for inventions that are sensitive to national security. This is stipulated in the ``Act on Promotion of Ensuring Security through Security Policy'' (Act No. 43 of XNUMX) (hereinafter referred to as the ``Act'').
(Quoted from the Japan Patent Office website:https://www.jpo.go.jp/system/patent/shutugan/hikokai/index.html)
table of contents
Inventions subject to preservation designation
(1)Specific technology fieldInventions belonging to (see figure below)
(2)Specific technology fieldEven if the invention belongs to a technical field (Fields subject to additional requirements), the requirements stipulated by Cabinet Order (Additional requirements) will be subject to maintenance examination.
(Quoted from the Cabinet Office website:https://www.cao.go.jp/keizai_anzen_hosho/doc/tokutei_gijutsu_bunya.pdf)
compensation for losses
If a preservation designation is granted as a result of the preservation examination, a permission system for working the invention (Article 73 of the Act), a prohibition in principle of disclosure of invention contents (Article 74 of the Act), and an obligation to properly manage invention information (Article 75 of the Act) , restrictions are imposed such as approval system for sharing inventions with other business operators (Article 76 of the Act) and prohibition of filing applications to foreign countries (Article 78 of the Act). Article 80 of the Act stipulates that the government will compensate those who have suffered losses due to restrictions associated with such conservation designations for ``normally occurring losses.''
Prohibition on foreign applications
Under the patent application nondisclosure system, penalties will be imposed if a patent application is filed in a foreign country in violation of the prohibition on foreign applications. There are three types of foreign applications in this case:
① When a foreign application is filed in violation of the prohibition on foreign applications before filing in Japan (Article 94 of the Act)
② When an application is filed in a foreign country in violation of the prohibition on foreign applications before the completion of the preliminary examination for an invention that is subject to a preliminary examination after filing in Japan (inventions stipulated in the main text of Article 66, Paragraph 94 of the Act). Article XNUMX of the Act)
③ When a foreign application is filed for an invention subject to preservation that has been designated as preservation as a result of preservation examination (Article 92, Paragraph XNUMX, Item XNUMX of the Act)
If your application is to be submitted to a preservation examination, you will receive a notification to that effect from the Japan Patent Office within three months from the filing date in Japan, but it is confirmed that your application will not be submitted to a preservation examination until three months have passed from the filing date in Japan. is not obtained. Therefore, when filing a foreign application that claims priority from a Japanese application within three months from the Japanese filing date, the same precautions as in ① above are required.
Determination of invention unit
The determination of whether the prohibition on foreign applications is violated is made on an invention-by-invention basis, not on an application-by-application basis.
Case Study
If you have filed a domestic application A for invention α before the enforcement date of this system (May 2024, 5), this system will not apply even if you file a foreign application B for invention α after the enforcement date.
On the other hand, if you use domestic application A as the basis for claiming priority and file foreign application C for invention β in addition to invention α after the enforcement date, this system will apply to invention β. Even if invention β is a slight modification of invention α, if invention β is an invention that is subject to preservation examination, foreign application C is considered a “patent application filed in a foreign country in violation of the prohibition on foreign applications.” Applicable.