Episode 4

As explained in [Characteristics of our Firm], intellectual property rights are protected by various laws.
Among these, copyright is such that “the enjoyment and exercise of the right does not require any form of performance” (Article 5, Paragraph 2 of the Berne Convention). Japan is a member of the Berne Union, and “if there is a separate provision in a treaty regarding the rights of authors and rights adjacent thereto, the provisions shall apply” (Article 5 of the Copyright Act). Copyrights are granted at the time a copyrighted work is created, without the need for any examination or registration procedures (non-formal principle). In other words, copyright is automatically granted at the time of creation, and the author can exercise the right. This does not apply even if someone else creates a similar work. However, in order to exercise copyright, you must prove that you are the author (Article 2, Paragraph 1, Items 1 and 2 of the Copyright Act).
In the United States, the “formalism” system, which required registration with a government agency in order to obtain a copyright, had been maintained until recent years, but it was finally concluded in 1989 with the Berne Convention that led to a shift to a “formalism system”. Did. Furthermore, Japan concluded the Berne Convention in 1899.
On the other hand, for industrial property rights (patents, utility models, designs, trademarks), registration at the Patent Office is a requirement for the rights to be granted (Article 66, Paragraph 1 of the Patent Law, Article 14, Paragraph 1 of the Utility Model Law, (Article 20, Paragraph 1, Trademark Law, Article 18, Paragraph 1). For this reason, even if you create an idea, if someone else files an application with similar content and obtains the rights, you will not be able to implement your idea (first-to-file system). In that sense, industrial property rights are first come, first served. To exercise industrial property rights, you can prove that you are the right holder by registering at the Patent Office.
In the United States, the “first to invent” system, which grants patent rights to the first person to invent something, has been maintained until recent years, but in 2013, the Patent Law Amendment Act was finally enacted and the system shifted to the “first to file” system.
To obtain industrial property rights, there are application and examination fees, registration fees, and if you request an agent to file the application, you will incur those fees. Even if you file a worthless application and obtain the rights, if you do not exercise the rights, you will end up wasting your money. In this sense, it is essential to apply for industrial property rights “carefully and promptly.”

Episode 3

In Japan, after filing a patent application (Article 36 of the Patent Act) and requesting examination (Article 48-2 to 4 of the same Act), the rate of registration being granted at the first notification (the rate of registration being achieved immediately without notification of reasons for refusal) is 14.3% (January to December 2022) (https://www.jpo.go.jp/toppage/pph-portal-j/statistics.html). In other words, more than 85% of applications will receive a notice of reasons for refusal.
A notice of reasons for refusal (Article 50 of the Act) is a notification that the requirements of Article 29, Article 29-2, Article 36, etc. of the Act are not met. Of these, violations of Article 36 of the same law are due to incomplete descriptions and the incompetence of the filing agent. In other words, it is an embarrassing reason for rejection for the agent.
If the patent office with which your company does business frequently receives notices of reasons for refusal for violation of Article 36 of the same law, it should be determined that the patent office has low ability as an application agent.

Episode 2

Continuing from the first episode, I will write about how to tell the difference between a good and bad patent firm based on its website.
Even if you create a website, there is no point in leaving it as is, and it will only have negative effects. A website is a place for communication between information senders and people who come into contact with that information. Communication is not a one-way transmission of information, but a mutual exchange of information.
Even if a website creator wants to disseminate this kind of information, there is no guarantee that the people who view the website will receive it as intended. It is possible that the interpretation may be different from the website creator's intention. Therefore, it is necessary to update the website so that the thoughts of the website creator can be more appropriately conveyed based on the reactions of the people who view the website.
Although some patent offices have websites, they have not been updated for years. An office whose website has not been updated for more than a year is a poorly managed and sloppy office. Even if you request such a firm to file applications for industrial property rights (patents, utility models, designs, trademarks), there is a possibility that customer information and application data are not managed properly.
Intellectual property rights, including industrial property rights, are an effective means to increase the value of a company. For this reason, if a patent office that has requested an application for industrial property rights does not properly manage customer information and application data, the value of the company will be reduced as a result.