Japan Trademark Registration

We handle Japan trademark registration: we first carry out a trademark search, checking the same or similar trademarks already on the register in Japan, then confirm with your company the classes of goods or services to select, draw up and file the application documents, and follow up every notice issued by the registry until registration. The trademark search is free; notarisation and legalisation fees are not applicable. After registration, we check the registration particulars and handle the renewal before the term of validity expires.

For trademark registration in other places, see Trademark Registration.

A trademark may be any sign that is capable of being perceived visually and represented graphically. It may consist of words, a person, a name, letters, numerals, figurative elements or a combination of colours, and includes any combination of those signs; it may also consist of a three-dimensional shape, provided the shape can be recorded and published, for example presented as a drawing or as a description in words. To improve the chance of registration in Japan, we recommend a device created by the applicant, carrying no particular meaning as words, and both distinctive and novel.

• Confirm the trademark to be applied for: words, a figure, a combination or a three-dimensional shape.
• Select the trademark classes: follow the classification of goods and services and match them to the classification list.
• Carry out a similarity search and a risk assessment: avoid marks too close to existing registrations, or falling within another party’s rights.

See how goods and services are classified; if your company cannot determine the classes to select, send us the list of goods or services to check.

• The applicant’s name, address and other basic particulars
• The trademark itself, as a text or image file, presented clearly where required
• The list of goods or services, matched to the classes selected

Once the application is filed, the time required is 8-12 months, the registration is valid for 10 years and may be renewed every 10 years. A renewal takes 1-2 months. The processing time is determined by the progress of examination at the registry in Japan.

A trademark registered in Hong Kong is protected only in Hong Kong. If your company sells in Japan or appoints an agent there and has not registered the trademark in Japan, and another party applies first for the same or a similar mark and obtains registration, your company has no registered trademark right to assert in Japan and will find it difficult to stop that party from using it; the brand spending already committed loses its basis. Registration in Japan follows the order in which applications are filed, and the processing time is counted in months, so the date of filing often decides who owns the mark.