PCT NATIONAL PHASE · JAPAN
Japan National Phase Entry: Deadlines, Documents, and Procedures
Which documents to translate, how to handle amendments, and when to request examination: a practical guide to national phase entry in Japan.
Two Separate Deadlines
Entry is normally due 30 months from the earliest priority date. The examination request is normally due three years from the international filing date. We manage the two deadlines separately.
Translation Submission: Check the Special Period
If the national phase entry form is filed in the final two months of the 30-month period, the Japanese translation may be submitted within two months of that filing. Filing earlier does not automatically give an extra two months.
This is not a universal 32-month deadline. We confirm the actual dates and whether we can accept urgent instructions.
Documents for National Phase Entry
- Application: WO/PCT number, priority information, and applicant/inventor details.
- Documents: description, claims, abstract, and drawings as originally filed.
- Changes: amendments under PCT Article 19 or 34 and the version you wish to pursue.
- Available materials: Japanese translation, sequence files, glossary, and search documents.
We first check publicly available documents, then ask you for any missing materials.
Authority documents and representation
A power of attorney is normally not required when a Japan-resident representative files the national phase entry form. Different arrangements, such as an applicant filing without a representative, require separate confirmation. We confirm the authority documents needed for the instructions and any later proceedings.
Preparing the Examination Request
We check the proposed Japanese claims, translation, and amendment support before examination. Timing can take account of your commercial plans, prosecution in other countries, and budget. Accelerated examination or the Patent Prosecution Highway (PPH) can be discussed where available.
Changes must remain within the original disclosure and applicable procedural limits. Acceleration does not guarantee allowance.
Examination and Office Actions →Restoration After a Missed Deadline
For eligible procedural deadlines missed on or after April 1, 2023, Japan applies an “unintentional” standard instead of the former “justifiable reason” standard. Restoration is not automatic: contact us promptly with the application number and circumstances.
Eligibility, request periods, and documents
We check the missed procedure, the circumstances, the applicable restoration request period, and the required documents and fees. Translation and examination-request deadlines are assessed separately.
Pre-Filing Disclosure: Check Before the PCT Filing
For an ordinary foreign-priority PCT application, Japan’s one-year novelty grace period is generally measured from disclosure to the international filing date—not to the priority date.
By the time Japan entry is considered, the relevant period may already have expired. Check any pre-filing disclosure before the PCT filing.
A timing example and Japan’s evidence procedure
If the invention was disclosed before filing through a paper, exhibition, sale, or website, eligibility for Japan’s novelty exception must be checked. For a PCT application claiming ordinary foreign priority, the international application generally must have been filed within one year of the disclosure. Filing the first national application within that year is not necessarily sufficient if the later PCT filing falls outside it.
For example, a first national filing two months after disclosure followed by a PCT filing twelve months later places the international filing fourteen months after disclosure. Compliance with the priority deadline and eligibility for Japan’s grace period are different questions.
If disclosure is first identified when Japan entry is considered, the relevant period may already have expired before the international filing, leaving no remedy under the exception. Entry itself is not necessarily too late: the required Japanese procedures can still be completed at entry if the application meets the conditions. The application for the exception and supporting evidence are normally due within 30 days after the date on which the statutory “national processing standard time” falls. An international-phase declaration does not dispense with Japan’s separate evidence requirement.
Please provide the date and content of the disclosure, the name of the person or organization responsible, the first national and international filing dates, and evidence of the disclosure. Eligibility and any special treatment are reviewed individually. The exception does not establish a priority date or remove unrelated third-party prior art.
JPO: novelty exception procedures (Japanese) · JPO: PCT declarations and evidence requirements (Japanese)
Request a Quote
Tell us the WO number and your objectives. We will review the information and explain the next steps.
Request a quote →General information, reviewed October 15, 2026. Procedures and fees depend on the application and may change. We confirm the current position before accepting filing instructions.
JPO: national phase · JPO: fees · WIPO