Japanese
English[1] Increase in the Number of Japanese Patent Attorneys (benrishi)
The statistics as of March 31, 2012 shows that the total number of Japanese patent attorneys called 'benrishi' in Japan is 9,145 and the breakdown by gender is 7,944 (86.9%) for male and 1,201 (13.1%) for female (see Fig. 1). Looking at the trend of the number of patent attorneys over the past 5 years, it has increased at a rate of 0.74% to 6.5% per year (see Fig. 2). For example, the total number of Japanese patent attorneys known to as benrishi was 7,732 in 2008, which means it has substantially increased by 18.3% in 4 years. Out of the said total number, the breakdown by gender is 6,799 (87.9%) for male and 933 (12.1%) for female. This breakdown shows an increase in the percentage of female patent attorneys said to benrishi in 2012 compared with that in 2008.
In order to obtain the qualification of Japanese patent attorney referred to as benrishi, a person is requested to pass a patent attorney examination and register as a patent attorney after completion of the practical training. Meanwhile, persons qualified to be an attorney at law or with experience as a trial examiner or examiner at the Japan Patent Office for the total period of 7 or more years are allowed to register as a patent attorney without taking the patent attorney examination. The statistics as of March 31, 2012 shows that the number of patent attorneys who passed the patent attorney examination is 8,200, equivalent to 89.7% of the total (see Fig. 3). Furthermore, the number of patent attorneys qualified with trial examiner or examiner experience is 584 (6.4%) and that qualified to be an attorney at law is 357 (3.9%). This indicates that fewer patent attorneys are qualified without passing the patent attorney examination.
As just described, the majority of Japanese patent attorneys so-called benrishi have passed the patent attorney examination. Fig. 4 shows the number of persons who have passed the patent attorney examination over the past 12 years. The patent attorney examination tends to be easier following a request for a quantitative expansion of patent attorneys. The number of persons who passed the patent attorney examination was 255 in 2000, but rapidly increased to 711 in 2005 and 773 in 2012. Particularly during the period of 2009 to 2012, the number of persons who passed the patent attorney examination almost tripled that from 2000. This shows a substantial increase in the number of persons who passed the patent attorney examination.
Furthermore, in 2001, the preliminary patent attorney examination that persons with no university degree were requested to take was abolished to allow anyone to take the patent attorney examination. Persons who are of non-Japanese nationality are also allowed to take the patent attorney examination.
The breakdown of Japanese patent attorneys by years with registration kept in the patent attorney’s register clearly indicates the growing number of persons who have passed the patent attorney examination. Looking at the breakdown of Japanese patent attorneys by years with registration kept in the patent attorney’s register shown in Fig. 5, patent attorneys has increased in number in descending order of years with registration kept in the patent attorney’s register. The number of patent attorneys whose years with registration kept in the patent attorney’s register are less than 5 years has come to 2,669 (29.2%) and that of patent attorneys whose years with registration kept in the patent attorney’s register are 5 to 10 years has come to 2,656 (29.0%). While the number of patent attorneys whose years with registration kept in the patent attorney’s register are 10 to 15 years has come to 1,106 (12.1%), less than half that of patent attorneys whose years with registration kept in the patent attorney’s register are 5 to 10 years. As a result, it is now understood that patent attorneys whose years with registration kept in the patent attorney’s register are short have substantially increased in number due to the recent increase in the number of persons who passed the patent attorney examination.
Furthermore, looking at the trend of Japanese patent attorneys by years with registration kept in the patent attorney’s register over the past 5 years, the percentage of patent attorneys whose years with registration kept in the patent attorney’s register are less than 5 years has decreased year after year from 39.4% in 2008 to 29.2% in 2012 (see Fig. 6), while that of patent attorneys whose years with registration kept in the patent attorney’s register are 5 to 10 years has increased year after year from 18.3% in 2008 to 29.0% in 2012. The assumed reason for the foregoing changes is that patent attorneys whose years with registration kept in the patent attorney’s register were less than 5 years increased in number first and a group of these increased patent attorneys shifted to a group of patent attorneys whose years with registration kept in the patent attorney’s register were more than 5 years to increase patent attorneys, thus leading to an increase in the number of patent attorneys whose years with registration kept in the patent attorney’s register were 5 to 10 years.
In contrast, the percentage of patent attorneys whose years with registration kept in the patent attorney’s register are 15 to 20 years has decreased gradually from 8.2% in 2008 to 6.9% in 2012. In addition, the percentage of patent attorneys whose years with registration kept in the patent attorney’s register are more than 20 years also tends to be decreasing.
Looking at the distribution of Japanese patent attorneys by age, the highest proportion of the patent attorneys is those in their 30s (2,589 in number, equivalent to 28.3%), followed by those in their 40s (2,576 in number, 28.2%), 50s (1,578 in number, 17.3%), and then 60s (1,422 in number, 15.5%) (see Fig. 7). The oldest is 99 years old, the youngest is 22 years old, and the average age of the Japanese patent attorneys is 49.04 years old.
Furthermore, looking at the trend of age distribution over the past 5 years, the largest percentage of patent attorneys was those in their 30s (29.9%) in 2008, resulting in a difference by 6.7 percentage point from the percentage of those in their 40s (23.2%) (see Fig. 8). Since 2008 the percentage of patent attorneys in their 30s has gradually decreased, while the percentage of those in their 40s has gradually increased, leading to a reduction in a difference between them to 0.1 percentage point in 2012. The assumed reason for such change is that a group of patent attorneys in their 30s shifted to a group of those in their 40s.
