Tsubame Patent Attorney Firm

In order to obtain patent rights, novelty is required, so if the invention is disclosed to the public before the patent application’s filing date, it will lose novelty and will not be able to obtain a patent.
However, from the applicant’s perspective, applicants may put on a display at various exhibitions or selling inventions before filling.
In such cases, the Japanese Patent Act allows exceptions to lack of novelty to protect applicant’s advantages.

In June 2018, the Japanese Patent Act was amended to extend the period of exceptions to lack of novelty for new patent, utility model, and design applications from the previous 6 month duration to 1 year. Due of this amendment, inventions published on or after December 9, 2017 can obtain patents by using the exceptions to lack of novelty within 1 year of the date of publication.

In the Japanese Patent Act, the "acts of publication" that meets the conditions to use exceptions to lack of novelty is wide, and it can be applied to the selling of inventions etc. In addition, the procedure requires the application form with applicant’s request to use exceptions lack of novelty at the time of filing. Applicants are also required to submit a certificate within 30 days from the date of filing to prove that they are qualified to use the exceptions to lack of novelty.

In South Korea, the exceptions to lack of novelty period for new patent, utility model, and design applications is 1 year as in Japan. In comparison to the Japanese Patent Act, the procedure period of the exceptions to the lack of novelty eased in Korean law.

However, unlike Japan and South Korea, the exceptions to the lack of novelty period in China for patent, utility model, and design applications is shorter (by 6 months), so please be careful of this difference.

Tsubame Patent Office provides patent, utility model, design, trademark and rights management services for Japan, China and South Korea. Please feel free to contact us about the exceptions to the lack of novelty or any other application concerns.

Sincerely yours,

Shimbo Itsuki
Acting Director & Japanese Patent Attorney