14.01.2008
JPO Will Reduce Patent And Trademark Fees
2008 — the year of the rat — is already bringing good news for patent and trademark holders and applicants in Japan: Last week, officials of the Japan Patent Office (JPO) announced a reduction of patent and trademark fees for this year. The current official fees are planned to be lowered by an average of 12 percent on the patent side. An even bigger reduction will come into effect for trademark-related fees, which will be lowered around 43 percent. This will affect mainly the trademark renewal fee which are currently at JPY 151,000 per classification (~ EUR 940), every ten years. The JPO wants to encourage the management of small and medium-size enterprises to make full use of intelletual property rights.
It is not yet certain when the new fee system will come to effect, however, it is expected that the respective regulations of the patent and trademark laws will be approved during the current Diet session which runs from January 18 until June 15.
Source: NIKKEI NET
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