Tsubame Patent Attorney Firm

If a foreign national files for a patent application in Japan, he or she may claim priority with the Paris Convention based on the application in a foreign language of the first country filed. If only applications in the Japanese language were allowed, it would be necessary to procure the Japanese translation within in a short period of time when a patent application is filed near the expiration date of the time limit provided by the claimed Paris Convention priority. Additionally, it is not permitted to add anything new that was not included in the original specification like attaching amendments to it.

Therefore, if there are any errors in the translation process from a foreign language into Japanese, it may not be possible to properly protect the invention due to the lack of options to correct translation errors based on the contents of the foreign language.
Therefore, a foreign language application system has been established in Japan, and patent applications in foreign languages have been allowed at the Japanese Patent Office. An applicant with a foreign language application would then submit a Japanese translation of a foreign language document and a foreign language abstract within 1 year from the filing date (the first priority date, if accompanied by a priority claim). When the translation submission is not done within this period, the applicant will be notified to that effect. The applicant may then still submit a translation of a foreign language document within two months of this notification date. Not heeding to this notice would lead to the patent application deemed to be withdrawn.
Therefore, it is a convenient system for applicants because it can be said that translations to Japanese have a temporal margin of about 1 year to 6 months from the priority date to be submitted.

This system can also be used to address with translation errors.

There is a similar system in South Korea. However, unlike Japan, only English is allowed for submission. You would have to submit a Korean translation within 1 year and 2 months from the priority date. After this time period, the patent application would be deemed to be withdrawn. On the other hand, there is no similar system in China, which means applications would require Chinese translations within the Paris priority period.

Tsubame Patent Office provides patent, utility model, design, trademark and rights management services for Japan, China and South Korea filings. Please feel free to contact us concerning Foreign Language Applications or any of the information provided above.


Sincerely yours,

Itsuki Shimbo