Revision of seals in procedures related to the Patent Office

I’m applying for a new trademark… I heard that in recent years, seals are no longer required for some procedures related to the Patent Office.
I would like to know in detail in which cases a seal is not required.

Now, let’s take this opportunity to understand which procedures require a seal and which do not.

This article summarizes the operation of the seal in procedural matters as stipulated by the JPO.

Amendment eliminates the need for seals related to procedures.

The JPO of the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI) has been studying a review of procedures that have been required by law to be stamped by businesses, etc., for the purpose of shifting to a new lifestyle to prevent the spread of new coronavirus infection, responding to the rapidly developing digital society, and further improving the convenience of administrative procedures.

Then, the “Cabinet Order for Partial Revision of Cabinet Order of the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry for Revision of Procedures Requiring a Seal（押印を求める手続の見直し等のための経済産業省関係政令の一部を改正する政令）” and the “Ministerial Order for Partial Revision of Enforcement Regulations for the Patent Registration Order（特許登録令施行規則等の一部を改正する省令）” were promulgated, including the Patent Registration Order, making a seal unnecessary in some procedures for documents submitted to the Patent Office after June 12, 2021.

Breakdown of overall procedures with the Patent Office that require a seal and those that do not

Total number of procedures before the JPO: 797
　　　Procedures that continue to require a seal: 33
　　　Procedures for which signatures, etc. are required by treaties: 74
　　　Procedures for which the seal has been abolished: 690

Examples of procedures where the seal has been abolished

Examples of procedures in which the seal is no longer required are as follows

・Appointment of an agent
・Exceptions to Loss of Novelty, etc.
・Procedural amendments, etc. accompanying registration of transfer of rights

Procedures that continue to require a seal

Procedures that are considered to be highly damaging due to forgery (procedures listed below) will continue to require a seal.

・Change of Applicant’s Name
・Change of name
・Change of address (residence)
・Application for registration of transfer of patent right, etc. due to general succession
・Application for registration of transfer of patent right, etc. due to specific succession
・Application for registration of change of indication of registered owner

etc.

The list of documents requiring a seal is compiled on the JPO website.
Procedures not listed on the above page are those that do not require a seal.
*For details and the latest operations, please check the JPO website above.

Procedures Related to PCT International Applications

In addition, the stamping of applications and other documents for international applications under the Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT) is also being reviewed.
For example, the stamping has been abolished for the following procedures.

・ Accounting documents to the JPO

・Grant Application for International Application Promotion Grant（国際出願促進交付金交付申請書）

For more information, please visit the JPO website.

Starting December 28, 2020, seals are no longer required for all but a few procedures. Since then, there have been an increasing number of procedures that no longer require seals.

The Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI) has announced that the application procedures for patents, etc., will be fully converted to electronic procedures. There may be some changes in operation regarding imprinting in the future.
In addition, the operation other than the stamping is also changed from time to time. Those who are involved in intellectual property affairs need to check the changes in operation as necessary.
If you think such confirmation work is too much work, it may be a good idea to ask a patent firm to handle your application work. By entrusting the work to a group of IP professionals, you can be sure that the procedures will be carried out without having to worry about every single change in operation.

It would be difficult if I forget to confirm the change of operation and go through the procedure. It would be safer to have a patent firm handle the procedures.

Leave the IP-related procedures to our patent firm!

In this article, we have introduced procedures that require a seal and procedures that do not require a seal.
In addition to seals, the operation of procedures related to intellectual property, such as patents, is subject to change from time to time. If you do not follow the procedures after making sure that you are aware of these changes, problems may occur in the examination process.
If you wish to proceed with the procedure with certainty, we recommend that you request a patent firm to perform the procedure for you.
Please feel free to contact us at any time for consultation regarding intellectual property matters!

Feel free to consult a patent attorney!

Are you worried about your trademark all by yourself?

If you have any problems, please contact our experienced trademark attorneys!