PATENT LAW FIRM (JP) - JAPANESE PATENT & TRADEMARK ATTORNEYS - BENRISHI

(1) Jurisdiction of court

The first instance of an action concerning Japanese patent right shall be under the direct jurisdiction of the Tokyo District Court for the cases in eastern Japan or of the Osaka District Court for the cases in western Japan. As a result, even if any action concerning patent right is filed to any court other than the Tokyo or Osaka District Court, it will not be tried. Appeal courts for the action concerning patent right filed to the Tokyo or Osaka District Court shall all be handled by the Intellectual Property High Court. The Intellectual Property High Court is a special branch of Tokyo High Court and exclusively handles cases pertaining to intellectual property.

If you are dissatisfied with the result of examination or would like to invalidate other’s patent right, you may file a request for a trial to the Japan Patent Office and, if you are dissatisfied with the result of this trial, you may file an action to the Intellectual Property High Court.

(2) Statutory training

A patent attorney called benrishi is required to complete the practical training at the time of registration, and is also required to take continual training for a period of 70 or more hours every five years even after registration. The said training includes group lectures and discussion as well as training with e-learning system taken via the internet.

(3) Patent Attorneys’ Day

In Japan, the first day of July each year has been marked the Patent Attorneys’ Day. The Japan Patent Attorneys Association designated this day for the purpose of enlightening and disseminating the intellectual property right system and the patent attorney system in commemoration of July 1, 1899 on which "the Regulations on Patent Attorney Registration" entered into force. On the Patent Attorneys’ Day, individual district branches of the Japan Patent Attorneys Association hold free consultations and lectures pertaining to intellectual property right each year.

(4) Intern training

The Japan Patent Attorneys Association provides intern training for those who are lack of work experience pertinent to intellectual property business in order to offer an opportunity for them to accumulate their work experience.