W201002 Trends on Patent Examination by the Japan Patent Office

The patent examination is carried out by an examiner of the Japan Patent Office based on Patent Law, and the practice such as the examination of patentability is carried out based on Examination Guidelines.Among patent examination, the inventive step is an important part in order to control success or failure of the patent application.Recent trends of the practice can be analyzed in a judicial decision."Case study of the inventive step" issued by the Japan Patent Office is useful as one of the documents for such analysis. It is expected that such analysis is tried continuously. According to "Case study of the inventive step", there is some difference between the Patent Office and the judicial decision. In these fields, further discussion is important. The comparative study by the Trilateral Offices (Japan Patent Office, US Patent andTrademark Office, European Patent Office) is also useful as a document to examine the inventive step. Among the Trilateral Patent Offices, the practice has been harmonized, but some problemsare left. It is expected that such comparative study is tried continuously.