Our services

| Our services | Intellectual Property Right in Japan |

Imai & Associates' services include the preparation, filing and prosecution of patent and utility model applications in the software, optical, electrical, electronic, mechanical and chemical fields, as well as nearly every other technical discipline. Application document reviews and prior art searches are also conducted on-line, with a considerable time saving.

Trademark and design applications are handled in a similar manner. Even before filing, many clients utilize our on-line searches of registered and applied-for trademarks as a powerful tool in their product and service naming work.

Imai & Associates also offers comprehensive application and registered right management services that provide secure protection against missed dates and deadlines, such as those relating to examination request and annuity payment. Other services are provided in connection with expert opinions, surveys, litigation and most other industrial property right related matters. Clients desiring long-term services are invited to retain us as consultants.

Thanks to well-established relationships with leading patent and trademark firms around the globe, Imai & Associates is able to provide its domestic clients with unparalleled services in North, Central and South America, Europe, and numerous Asian countries including China, Korea and Singapore.

Overseas clients wishing to file in Japan have access to the same extensive range of professional services that Imai & Associates extends to its domestic clients, plus various additional services peculiar to international filings. Applications received in English are translated into Japanese by translators expert in their respective fields. All correspondence regarding legal and technical matters is prepared in English by attorney, while office actions, cited references and the likes are translated by professional translators and reviewed by the attorney handling the case, if required. So, the language problems are nonexistent.

Intellectual Property Right in Japan

1. Inventions, such as products or methods characterized by a creative technological idea, items including hardware and related computer programs, plants, animals, and microorganisms.

Patent Law
Protection period: 20 years from the day when an application was filed
Request for examination is required within 7 years from the filing date.

2. Utility Models, such as items having a short life cycle, characterized by the potential for an early implementation and a creative idea relating to the shape of products and structure.

Utility Model Law
Protection period: 6 years from the day when an application was filed.
Request for examination is not required and utility models are registered without examination.

3. Designs, such as the shape, pattern, color, and other design characteristics of items relating to their external appearance.

Design Law
Protection period: 15 years from the day when a design was registered.
Request for examination is not required but designs are registered after the examination.
Copyright law and Laws to stop unfair competition would be applicable.

4. Trademarks, such as letters, symbols, dresses having the effect of identifying the subject of various products or services.

Trademark Law
Protection period: 10 years from the day when a trademark was registered.
Continuous use can be obtained if an application is updated. Request for examination is not required but trademarks are registered after the examination.
Copyright law and Laws to stop unfair competition would be applicable.

5. Trade Secrets (manufacturing technologies etc)

Laws to stop unfair competition.

6. Software

Patent Law
Copyright Law
Date of creation, Date of first issuance, Real name and copyrights can be registered in SOFTIC that was designated by the Commissioner of the Agency for Cultural Affairs as the registrar for Program Works pursuant to the Act Providing Special Regulations for the Registration of Program Works.


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