この特許法の翻訳は、平成十八年法律第百九号までの改正（平成１９年９月３０日施 行）について、「法令用語日英標準対訳辞書」（平成１９年３月版）に準拠して作成したも のです。 なお、この法令の翻訳は公定訳ではありません。法的効力を有するのは日本語の法令自 体であり、翻訳はあくまでその理解を助けるための参考資料です。この翻訳の利用に伴っ て発生した問題について、一切の責任を負いかねますので、法律上の問題に関しては、官 報に掲載された日本語の法令を参照してください。 This English translation of thePatentActhasbeen prepared(uptotherevisions ofActNo. 109 of 2006(Effective September 30, 2007)) in compliance with the Standard Bilingual Dictionary (March 2007edition). This is an unofficial translation. Only the original Japanese texts of laws and regulations have legal effect, and the translations are to be used solely as reference material to aid in the understanding of Japanese laws and regulations. The Government of Japan will not be responsible for the accuracy, reliability or currency of the legislative material provided on this Website, or for any consequence resulting from use of the information on this Website. For all purposes of interpreting and applying the law to any legal issue or dispute, users should consult the original JapanesetextspublishedintheOfficialGazette. Patent Act (Act No. 121 of 1959) Chapter I General Provisions Article 1 (Purpose) The purpose of this Act is, through promoting the protection and the utilization of inventions, to encourage inventions, and thereby to contribute to the development of industry. Article 2 (Definitions) (1) "Invention" in this Act means the highly advanced creation of technical ideas utilizing the laws of nature. (2) "Patented invention" in this Act means an invention for which a patent has been granted. (3) "Working" of an invention in this Act means the following acts: (i) in the case of an invention of a product (including a computer program, etc., the same shall apply hereinafter), producing, using, assigning, etc. (assigning and leasing and, in the case where the product is a computer program, etc., including providing through an electric telecommunication line, the same shall apply hereinafter), exporting or importing, or offering for assignment, etc. (including displaying for the purpose of assignment, etc., the same shall apply hereinafter) thereof; (ii) in the case of an invention of a process, the use thereof; and (iii) in the case of an invention of a process for producing a product, in addition to the action as provided in the preceding item, acts of using, assigning, etc., exporting or importing, or offering for assignment, etc. the product produced by - 1 - the process. (4) A "computer program, etc." in this Act means a computer program (a set of instructions given to an electronic computer which are combined in order to produce a specific result, hereinafter the same shall apply in this paragraph) and any other information that is to be processed by an electronic computer equivalent to a computer program. Article 3 (Calculation of time periods) (1) The calculation of time periods under this Act or any order issued under this Act shall be made in accordance with the following provisions. (i) The first day of the period shall not be included in the calculation; provided, however, that this shall not apply where the period of time commences at 00:00 hours. (ii) Where the period is indicated by months or years, such months or years shall refer to calendar months or calendar years. Where the period is not calculated from the beginning of a month or a year, the period shall expire on the preceding day of the day corresponding to the first day of the calculation in the last month or year; provided, however, that where there is no corresponding day in the last month, the period shall expire on the last day of the last month. (2) Where the last day of the prescribed period for any procedures relating to a patent (hereinafter referred to as "procedures") including filing a patent application and a request, is any of the days provided for in Article 1(1) of the Act on Holidays of Administrative Organs (Act No. 91 of 1988), the day following such day shall be the last day of the period. Article 4 (Extension of time limits , etc.) The Commissioner of the Patent Office may, upon request or ex officio, extend the period provided for in Articles 46-2(1)(iii), 108(1), 121(1) and 173(1), for a person in a remote area or an area with transportation difficulty. Article 5 (1) Where the Commissioner of the Patent Office, the chief trial examiner, or the examiner has designated a time limit by which procedures are to be undertaken under this Act, the said official may, upon request or ex officio, extend the time limit. (2) Where the chief trial examiner has designated a specific date under this Act, the said official may, upon request or ex officio, change such date. Article 6 (Capacity of associations, etc. which are not juridical persons to undertake procedures) - 2 - (1) An association or foundation which is not a juridical person but for which a representative or an administrator has been designated may, in its name: (i) file a request for examination of an application; (ii) file a request for a trial for patent invalidation or a trial for invalidation of the registration of extension of duration; and (iii) file a request for a retrial in accordance with Article 171(1), against a final and binding decision in a trial for patent invalidation or a trial for invalidation of the registration of extension of duration. (2) An association or foundation which is not a juridical person but for which a representative or an administrator has been designated may be named as a demandee in a request filed for a retrial against a final and binding decision in a trial for patent invalidation or a trial for invalidation of the registration of extension of duration. Article 7 (Capacity of minors or adult wards etc. to undertake procedures) (1) Minors or adult wards may not undertake procedures except through their statutory representatives; provided, however, that this shall not apply where a minor is capable of independently performing a juristic act. (2) Where a person under curatorship undertakes procedures, the consent of a curator is required. (3) Where a statutory representative undertakes procedures, the consent of a supervisor of the guardian, if any, is required. (4) Where an adverse party files a request for a trial or retrial involving a person under curatorship or a statutory representative, the preceding two paragraphs shall not apply. Article 8 (Patent administrators for overseas residents) (1) Unless otherwise provided for by Cabinet Order, no person domiciled or resident (or, in the case of a juridical person, with a business office) outside Japan (hereinafter referred to as an "overseas resident") may undertake procedures or institute action against measures taken by a relevant administrative agency in accordance with the provisions of this Act or an order issued under this Act, except through a representative domiciled or resident in Japan, who is acting for such person in handling matters related to the person's patent (hereinafter referred to as a "patent administrator"). (2) The patent administrator shall represent the principal in all procedures and litigation against measures taken by any relevant administrative agency in accordance with the provisions of this Act or an order issued under this Act; provided, however, that this shall not apply where the overseas resident limits the scope of authority of representation of the patent administrator. - 3 - Article 9 (Scope of authority of representation) An agent of a person domiciled or resident in Japan (or, in the case of a juridical person, with a business office) and who is undertaking a procedure shall not, unless expressly so empowered, convert, waive or withdraw a patent application, withdraw an application for registration of extension of the duration of a patent right, withdraw a request, application or motion, make or withdraw a priority claim under Article 41(1), file a patent application based on a registration of a utility model in accordance with Article 46-2(1), file a request for laying open of an application, file a request for a trial against an examiner's decision of refusal, waive a patent right or appoint a subagent. Article 10 Deleted Article 11 (No extinction of authority of representation) The authority of representation of an authorized agent acting for a person undertaking procedures shall not be extinct upon the death of the principal, or in the case of a juridical person, merger of the principal, termination of trust duties of a trustee who is the principal, the death of a legal representative, or change or extinction of the statutory representative's authority of representation. Article 12 (Independent representation by representatives) Where there are two or more representatives acting for a person who undertakes procedures, each representative may represent the principal before the Patent Office. Article 13 (Replacement of representatives, etc.) (1) When the Commissioner of the Patent Office or the chief trial examiner finds that a person undertaking procedures is not competent or suitable for undertaking such procedures, the official may order the person to undertake the procedures through a representative. (2) When the Commissioner of the Patent Office or the chief trial examiner finds that a representative acting for a person undertaking procedures is not competent or suitable for undertaking such procedures, the official may order that the representative be replaced. (3) In the case of the preceding two paragraphs, the Commissioner of the Patent Office or the chief trial examiner may order that a patent attorney be the representative. (4) The Commissioner of the Patent Office or the chief trial examiner may, after the issuance of an order under paragraph (1) or (2), dismiss the procedures before the Patent Office undertaken by the person undertaking procedures under paragraph - 4 - (1) or the representative under paragraph (2). Article 14 (Mutual representation of multiple parties in the case) Where two or more persons are jointly undertaking a procedure, each of them shall represent the other or others with respect to procedures other than the conversion, waiver and withdrawal of a patent application, the withdrawal of an application for registration of extension of the duration of a patent right, the withdrawal of a request, application, or motion, the making and withdrawal of a priority claim under Article 41(1), the request for laying open of an application, and the request for a trial against an examiner's decision of refusal; provided, however, that this shall not apply where the said persons have appointed a representative for both/all of them and have notified the Patent Office accordingly. Article 15 (Jurisdiction over overseas residents) Regarding a patent right or other right relating to the patent of an overseas resident, the location of the property under Article 5(iv) of the Code of Civil Procedure (Act No. 109 of 1996) shall be the domicile or residence of the overseas resident's patent administrator, or if there is no such patent administrator, the address of the Patent Office. Article 16 (Ratification of acts of persons lacking legal capacity) (1) Any procedures undertaken by a minor (excluding one who has a legal capacity to juristic act independently) or an adult ward may be ratified by the person's statutory representative (or by the said adult ward, if the person later acquires a legal capacity to undertake the procedures). (2) Any procedures undertaken by a person with no authority of representation may be ratified by the principal holding legal capacity to undertake the procedures or the principal's statutory representative. (3) Any procedures undertaken by a person under curatorship without the consent of his curator may be ratified if the person under curatorship obtains the approval of his curator. (4) Any procedures undertaken by a statutory representative without the consent of a supervisor of a guardian may be ratified by the statutory representative if the approval of the supervisor of the guardian is obtained, or by the principal if the principal acquires a legal capacity to undertake the procedures. Article 17 (Amendment of proceedings) (1) A person undertaking a procedure before the Patent Office may make amendments only while the case is pending; provided, however, that the person may not amend the description, scope of claims, drawing(s) or the abstract - 5 - attached to the application, or the corrected description, scope of claims or drawings attached to the written request for correction or a trial for correction under Article 134-2(1), unless an amendment may be made pursuant to the provisions the following Article to Article 17-4 inclusive. (2) Notwithstanding the main clause of the preceding paragraph, an applicant of a foreign language written application as provided in Article 36-2(2) may not amend foreign language documents and as provided in Article 36-2(1). (3) The Commissioner of the Patent Office may require an applicant to amend a procedure, designating an adequate time limit, in the following cases: (i) where the procedures do not comply with Paragraphs (1) to (3) of Article 7 or Article 9; (ii) where the procedures do not comply with the formal requirements prescribed by this Act or an order thereunder; and (iii) where the fees relating to the procedures payable under Paragraphs (1) to (3) of Article 195 are not paid. (4) For any amendment of procedures (except in the case of the payment of fees), written amendment shall be submitted in writing, except for cases provided by Article 17-2(2). Article 17-2 (Amendment of Description, Claim or Drawing attached to the application) (1) An applicant for a patent may amend the description, scope of claims, or drawings attached to the application, before the service of the certified copy of the examiner's decision notifying that a patent is to be granted; provided, however, that following the receipt of a notice provided under Article 50, an amendment may only be made in the following cases: (i) where the applicant has received the first notice (hereinafter referred to in this Article as the "notice of reasons for refusal") under Article 50 (including the cases where it is applied mutatis mutandis pursuant to Article 159(2) (including the cases where it is applied mutatis mutandis pursuant to Article 174(1)) and Article 163(2), hereinafter the same shall apply in this paragraph) and the said amendment is made within the designated time limit under Article 50;] (ii) where, following the receipt of the notice of reasons for refusal, the applicant has received a notice under Article 48-7 and the said amendment is made within the designated time limit under the said Article; (iii) where, following the receipt of the notice of reasons for refusal, the applicant has received a further notice of reasons for refusal and the said amendment is made within the designated time limit under Article 50 with regard to the final notice of reasons for refusal; and (iv) where the applicant files a request for a trial against an examiner's decision - 6 - of refusal and the said amendment is made within 30 days from the said request for the said trial. (2) Where an applicant of a foreign language written application as provided in Article 36-2(2) amends the description, scope of claims or drawings under the preceding paragraph for the purpose of correcting an incorrect translation, the applicant shall submit the statement of correction of the incorrect translation, stating the grounds thereof. (3) Except in the case where the said amendment is made through the submission of a statement of correction of an incorrect translation, any amendment of the description, scope of claims or drawings under paragraph (1) shall be made within the scope of the matters described in the description, scope of claims or drawings originally attached to the application(in the case of a foreign language written application under Article 36-2(2), the translation of the foreign language documents as provided in Article 36-2(2) that is deemed to be the description, scope of claims and drawings under Article 36-2(4) (in the case where the amendment to the description, scope of claims or drawings has been made through the submission of the statement of correction of an incorrect translation, the said translation or the amended description, scope of claims or drawings)) (4) In addition to the case provided in the preceding paragraph, where any amendment of the scope of claims is made in the cases listed in the items of paragraph (1), the invention for which determination on its patentability is stated in the notice of reasons for refusal received prior to making the amendment and the invention constituted by the matters described in the amended scope of claims shall be of a group of inventions recognized as fulfilling the requirements of unity of invention set forth in Article 37. (5) In addition to the requirements provided in the preceding two paragraphs, in the cases of items (i), (iii) and (iv) of paragraph (1) (in the case of item (i) of the said paragraph, limited to the case where the applicant has received a notice under Article 50-2 along with the notice of reasons for refusal), the amendment of the scope of claims shall be limited to those for the following purposes: (i) the deletion of a claim or claims as provided in Article 36(5); (ii) restriction of the scope of claims (limited to the cases where the restriction is to restrict matters required to identify the invention stated in a claim or claims under Article 36(5), and the industrial applicability and the problem to be solved of the invention stated in the said claim or claims prior to the amendment are identical with those after the amendment.); (iii) the correction of errors; and (iv) the clarification of an ambiguous statement (limited to the matters stated in the reasons for refusal in the notice of reasons for refusal). (6) Article 126(5) shall apply mutatis mutandis to cases under item(ii) of the - 7 - preceding paragraph. Article 17-3 (Amendment of abstract) An applicant for a patent may amend the abstract attached to the application within one year and three months (excluding the period after a request for laying open of application is filed) from the filing date of the patent application (or in the case of a patent application containing a priority claim under Article 41(1), the filing date of the earlier application provided for in the said paragraph, in the case of a patent application containing a priority claim under Article 43(1), 43-2(1) or 43-2 (2), the filing date of the earliest application, a patent application that is deemed to be the earliest application under Article 4.C(4) of the Paris Convention (refers to the Paris Convention for the Protection of Industrial Property of March 20, 1883, as revised at Brussels on December 14, 1900, at Washington on June 2, 1911, at Hague on November 6, 1925, at London on June 2, 1934, at Lisbon on October 31, 1958, and at Stockholm on July 14, 1967, the same shall apply hereinafter) or a patent application that is recognized as the earliest application under Article 4.A(2) of the Paris Convention, and in the case of a patent application containing two or more priority claims under Article 41(1), 43(1), 43-2(1) or 43-2(2), the earliest day of the filing dates on which the said priority claims are based, the same shall apply to the main clause of Article 36-2(2) and Article 64(1)). Article 17-4 (Amendment of corrected description, scope of claims or drawings) (1) The demandee of a trial for patent invalidation may amend the corrected description, scope of claims or drawings attached to the written request for correction under Article 134-2(1) only within the time limit designated under Article 134(1), 134(2), 134-2(3), 134-3(1), 134-3(2) or 153(2). (2) The demandant of a trial for correction may amend the corrected description, scope of claims or drawings attached to the written request for a trial for correction, only prior to notice under Article 156(1) (in the case where the proceedings has been reopened under Article 156(2), prior to further notice under Article 156(1)). Article 18 (Dismissal of procedures) (1) The Commissioner of the Patent Office may dismiss the procedures where a person ordered to make an amendment to the procedures under Article 17(3) fails to make such amendment within the designated time limit under the said provision, or where a person obtaining the registration establishing a patent right fails to pay patent fees within the designated time limit under Article 108(1). (2) The Commissioner of The Patent Office may dismiss a patent application where the applicant ordered under Article 17(3) to pay patent fees provided for in Article 195(3) fails to pay such patent fees within the designated time limit under Article - 8 - 17(3). Article 18-2 (Dismissal of unlawful procedure) (1) The Commissioner of the Patent Office shall dismiss a procedure where the procedure is unlawful and not amendable. (2) Where the Commissioner of the Patent Office intends to dismiss a procedure under the preceding paragraph, he/she shall notify the person who undertook the procedure of the reasons therefor and give the said person an opportunity to submit a document stating an explanation (hereinafter referred to as a "statement of explanation"), designating an adequate time limit. Article 19 (Effective time of submission of application) An application, a document or any other item submitted by mail to the Patent Office under this Act, or any order rendered under this Act, that is subject to a time limit, shall be deemed to have arrived at the Office at the date and time when such application or item is presented to the post office if such date and time are proven by the receipt of the mail, at the date and time of the date stamp on the mail if such date and time are clearly legible, or at noon of the day of the date stamp on the mail if only the day, but not the time, of the date stamp is clearly legible. Article 20 (Succession of effects of procedures) The effects of the procedures relating to a patent right or any right relating to a patent shall extend to a successor in title. Article 21 (Continuation of procedures) Where a patent right or any right relating to a patent is transferred while a case is pending before the Patent Office, the Commissioner of the Patent Office or the chief trial examiner may proceed with the procedures relating to the case to which the successor in title shall be the party. Article 22 (Suspension or termination of procedures) (1) Where a motion for the resumption of procedures suspended after a certified copy of a ruling, an examiner's decision or a trial decision has been served is filed, the Commissioner of the Patent Office or the trial examiner shall render a ruling on whether the resumption shall be accepted. (2) The ruling under the preceding paragraph shall be made in writing and state the grounds therefor. Article 23 (1) Where a procedure for an examination, trial or retrial has been suspended and - 9 - the person responsible for resuming the procedure fails to do so, the Commissioner of the Patent Office or the trial examiner shall, upon a motion or ex officio, order the said person to resume the procedure and designate an adequate time limit for this purpose. (2) Where the resumption does not occur within the time limit designated under the preceding paragraph, the resumption may be deemed by the Commissioner of the Patent Office or the trial examiner to have commenced on the date the time limit lapsed. (3) When the resumption is deemed to have commenced under the preceding paragraph, the Commissioner of the Patent Office or the chief trial examiner shall notify the parties in the case thereof. Article 24 The Code of Civil Procedure, Articles 124 (excluding paragraph (1)(vi)), 126 to 127, 128(1), 130, 131 and 132(2) (suspension or termination of court proceedings) shall apply mutatis mutandis to a procedure for an examination, a trial or retrial. In this case, the term "counsel" in Article 124(2) of the said Code shall be deemed to be replaced with "agent entrusted with the examination, trial or retrial", the term "court" in Article 127 of the said Code shall be deemed to be replaced with "commissioner of the patent office or the chief trial examiner", the term "court" in Articles 128(1) and 131 of the said Code shall be deemed to be replaced with "commissioner of the patent office or the trial examiner", and the term "court" in Article 130 of the said Code shall be deemed to be replaced with "patent office". Article 25 (Enjoyment of rights by foreign nationals) A foreign national not domiciled or resident (or, in the case of a juridical person, with a business office) in Japan may not enjoy a patent right or other rights relating to a patent, except in the following cases: (i) where the country of the foreign national allows Japanese nationals to enjoy a patent right or other rights relating to a patent under the same conditions as for its own nationals; (ii) where the country of the foreign national allows Japanese nationals to enjoy a patent right or other rights relating to a patent under the same conditions as for its own nationals in the case where Japan allows nationals of that country to enjoy a patent right or others right relating to a patent; and (iii) where specifically provided by treaty . Article 26 (Effect of treaties) Where specific provisions relating to a patent are provided by treaty, such provisions shall prevail. - 10 -