Patent Granted in 17 Days Under New Scheme
03 December 2012
The Japan Patent Office’s new super-accelerated patent processing scheme has paid off for at least one new patent holder in Japan.
The super-accelerated processing system, launched October 1, is designed to process patent applications more quickly than can be done under the conventional accelerated examination system, according to the JPO.
On the same day, Tokyo’s Keio University filed an application for an invention titled Electrochemical Analysis Method Using Boron Doped Electroconductive Diamond Electrode. Seventeen days later, the JPO granted the application. According to a JPO press release, under the conventional accelerated examination, the average time to first office action is 2.2 months.
In order to qualify for the super-accelerated examination, a request for examination must have already been filed relating to “a working related application and to an application filed with the JPO and at least one foreign IP office. Applicants must also be able to demonstrate concrete plans to use the invention commercially.
Government officials reportedly told local press in Japan that the time spent on the examination was the world’s shortest.
In the United States, where the US Patent and Trademark Office also has an accelerated examination procedure, some 40% of requests for accelerated treatment are granted, according to USPTO data.
