Table of Contents

Ⅰ. Development of PAJ ························································· １
Ⅱ. Development of JPO’s IPDL··············································· ４
Ⅲ. Information on Foreign Industrial Property Systems ······ 5
Ⅳ. PAJ Issuance Schedule ······················································ 7

Ⅰ. Development of PAJ
The first part of this issue of PAJ News is to give a brief description about
how PAJ has been developed until now. It may be helpful for retrieval to takethose facts into consideration. In the columns on the right hand side, related
important events are also mentioned.

1.

Issuance of the first PAJ (1976)
The Japan Patent Office (JPO) starts to issue PAJ in paper format. PAJ consistsof English abstracts, with a representative drawing, of published unexamined
patent applications. The PAJ has been issued:(1)To introduce technologies developed by Japanese and disclosed in Japanese
patent applications,(2)To prevent conflict in international trade stemming from the difficulty inaccessing the Japanese patent information,(3)To assist prior art search of PCT applications, and(4)To promote technology
1984
Paperless Project started
transfer from Japan toother countries.

Initial PAJ covers the field of chemistry, physics, machinery, and electronics,
and each booklet includes
500 items. The JPO starts 1990 On-line filing (for patent and utility model)
to send PAJ to IP relatedorganizations overseas free
CD-ROM gazette (for patent and utilityof charge for official use, 1993model)
and it is also sold to privatesectors.

2.

PAJ in CD-ROM format (1995)
The PAJ CD-ROM is produced with the MIMOSA software which is jointly
procured by Trilateral Offices (EPO, USPTO and JPO). The coverage is asfollows:(1) “Front File” –covers the PAJ of which unexamined patent applications
were published in 1994 onwards. (applications by foreign applicants areexcluded)(2) “Back File” –covers the PAJ of which original publications were publishedbetween 1976 and 1993, i.e. re-publication of paper version. 99 disks,classified into 69 technical fields.
1995
Modification in abstract of patentapplication[purpose][constitution] Æ[problem to be solved][solution](see the following chart)

PAJ

3.

PAJ INDEX CD-ROM(1997)
For more quick andeffective retrieval, theJPO starts production of
PAJ Index CD-ROM.
PAJ Index stores
bibliographic data,
English abstract, and disk
number of each PAJ.
Released quarterly, andits coverage accumulates
up to one year.

４.

1996

Report of Information Committee ofIndustrial Property Council:“Dissemination Policy of Industrial
Property Information in Advanced
Information Society”“Effective use of patent information is
crucial to assure smooth operation of theindustrial property system. From thisstandpoint, JPO and other sections shouldoptimize their strength so that patent
information should be made available aswidely as possible throughout thecountry.”

1996

The JPO’s website opened

PAJ coverage extends to foreign applicants (1998)
Since April 1998, PAJ’s
coverage extends to1998
On-line filing by PC(for patents / utility models)patent applications filed
by foreigners. For
publications from 1989 to 1997, PAJ CD-ROM is produced according to IPC
Sections (back files).

Ⅱ. Development of JPO’s IPDL
PAJ has been made retrievable on the Internet from 1997, as explained
below. Internet is one of the main resources of information in the field of IP.
In this page, you can see how the JPO’s IPDL (English menus only) has
improved its accessibility and availability. Although the IPDL was establishedin 1999, there were some databases which had been available before that (PAJand Famous Trademarks).
URL: http://www.ipdl.ncipi.go.jp/homepg_e.ipdl
1.

PAJ / Japanese Well-known Trademarks made available on theweb (1998)
The JPO has been testing PAJ retrieval service since 1997, and it implementsthe system in full scale from 1998.
Contents of the database of Japanese Well-known Trademarks are (1)registered trademarks for which defensive trademarks are granted, and (2)registered trademarks endorsed as well-known by trial decisions of the JPO or
by judicial decisions. Search criteria include transliteration of registeredtrademarks consisting of Japanese language, owner, and so on.

2.

Industrial Property Digital Library (IPDL) launched (1999)
Initial menus include
Japanese Trademark
Database as well as PAJand Japanese well-known
trademarks.

3.

2000

On-line procedure before the Office(design,trademark, PCT (national phase), and trial)
Formatchange in document number(yy-xxxxxx Æ yyyy-xxxxxx(4 digits of Christian era isprefixed instead of Japanese one))Japanese Figure
Trademarks /Automatic Translation made available (2000)

Trademarks consisting of figurative elements are made searchable, byentering “Figure Term” which is Japan’s unique classification system forfigurative marks.
Also, for publications since 1993 (CD-ROM), automatic translation isprovided in PAJ search.
4.

List of Goods and Services (2000)
Retrievable items include Classes (based on Nice classification), name ofgoods and services, and Similar Group Code, which infers the scope ofsimilarity among goods or services.

5.

Patent Map Guidance / FI/F-term Search (2001)
Patent Map Guidance: Structures and descriptions of FI and F-term, which
are Japanese unique patent classification, become retrievable.
FI/F-term Search: By using FI and/or F-term, users can effectively retrievedocuments issued since 19th century.
6.

Japanese Trademark Database (2001)
Users can use several
2001
PC filing system is fully implemented
kinds of criteria to find(filing from dedicated terminal is no longer allowed)
pending trademark
applications or registered trademarks. However, trademarks consisting ofJapanese characters only cannot be searchable.

7.

Patent / Utility Model Gazette DB / Concordance (2002)
In Gazette DB, PAJ, original publication and its automatic translation areavailable. In P&U
2003
XML format introduced to application
Concordance, you canforms of patent and utility model
enter any document
number to find otherdocument numbers related
2004
DVD-ROM gazette issued (for P & U)
to the same application.
On-line filing of PCT application(international phase)8.

Design Gazette DB (2004)
Like the Patent and Utility Model Gazette DB, design gazettes will be madesearchable in 2004.

Ⅲ. Information on Foreign Industrial Property Systems<Contact>
Developing Country Cooperation Section,International Affairs Division,
Japan Patent Office
Fax: +81-3-3581-0762
E-mail: PA0870@jpo.go.jp
Intending to assist developing countries primarily in Asia and the Pacific Rim toestablish and improve their industrial property systems, the Japan Patent Office ispromoting and conducting cooperative activities in various fields including humanresource development, the digitization of patent application procedures, and theexamination of applications.
As part of these cooperative activities, this site provides the texts (both in Englishand Japanese) of the industrial property laws and regulations in effect in various
industrialized and developing countries.
We hope that the governments of developing countries use this site to refer to thelegal systems of other countries in order to establish, revise, or contribute to theirown industrial property laws. At the same time, we hope that those who apply forthe acquisition of industrial property rights in other countries profit from theinformation contained in this site.

Please note that the translations of the texts and of the other information containedin this site are not official, and examining the original texts of the laws of thecountries concerned is advised.

List of Laws and Regulations
The listed legislation is unofficial translation of the original which should be used
for reference purpose only. It is recommended to re-view the original for precise
understanding of the actual legislation. If these unofficial translations differ fromthe original texts, the original texts are preferential. Official versions are in therespective official language (the language of government).

URL: http://www.jpo.go.jp/shiryou_e/s_sonota_e/fips_e/mokuji_e.htm
Country / Region

Laws and Regulations

ARGENTINA

Patent Law <PDF 145KB>Patent Regulation <PDF 125KB>
Design Law <PDF 43KB>Design Regulation <PDF 43KB>
Trademarks Law <PDF 66KB>Trademarks Regulation <PDF 43KB>

AUSTRIA

Patent Law <PDF 390KB>Utility Model Act <PDF 129KB>
Design Law <PDF 121KB>Trademark Law <PDF 204KB>
Industrial Property Regulations <PDF 78KB>

BELARUSPatent Law <PDF 261KB>Design Law <PDF 165KB>
Trademarks Law <PDF 164KB>Country / Region

Country / Region

Country / Region

Country / Region

BELGIUM

GERMANYNETHERLANDSSPAINBRAZILGREECENEW ZEALAND

SRI LANKA

BULGARIA

HONG KONGNORWAYSWEDENCANADAHUNGARYPERU

SWITZERLAND

CHILE

INDIA

PHILIPPINESTHAILANDCHINAIRELANDPOLAND

TURKEYCHINESE TAIPEILATVIAREPUBLIC OF KOREAUKRAINECZECH REPUBLIC

LITHUANIARUSSIA

UNITED KINGDOMDENMARKLUXEMBOURGSAUDI ARABIAUNITED STATES OF
AMERICAESTONIAMALAYSIASINGAPORE

VIETNAMFINLANDMEXICOSLOVAKIA---------Treaty

Laws and Regulations

BUDAPEST TREATY

Budapest Treaty

Regulations under the Budapest Treaty

CONVENTIONESTABLISHING THE WIPOConvention Establishing the WIPOTreaty

TreatyMADRID AGREEMENT & PROTOCOLWASHINGTON TREATYNAIROBI TREATYTRIPS AGREEMENTNICE AGREEMENTBENELUXPARIS CONVENTIONEURASIAN PATENT OFFICEPATENT COOPERATION TREATYEUROPEAN COMMUNITYSTRASBOURG AGREEMENTEUROPEAN PATENT OFFICETRADEMARK LAW TREATYNORTH AMERICAN FREE TRADE AGREEMENTUPOV CONVENTION----------Ⅳ. PAJ Issuance Schedule[2006]
PAJ
Date ofpublication of PAJ

PAJ index

Jan. 31 (Tue.)

Serialnumber forthe year
2006-1

Total
serialnumber
133

Feb. 28 (Tue.)

2006-2

134

24,400Mar. 31 (Fri.)

2006-3

135

26,200

Apr. 26 (Wed.)

2006-4136

25,600

May 29 (Mon.)

2006-5

137

29,400Jun. 28 (Wed.)

2006-6138

32,300Jul. 27 (Thu.)

2006-7

139

28,400Aug.29 (Tue.)

2006-8140

20,500

Sep.27 (Wed.)

2006-9141

38,500

Oct.27 (Fri.)

2006-10142

23,100Nov.28 (Tue.)

2006-11143

32,400

Dec.26 (Tue.)

2006-12144

32,500

Number of
PAJ stored

Coverage

34,4002005-1[121]/2005-12[132]2006-1[133]/2006-3[135]2006-1[133]/2006-6[138]2006-1[133]/2006-9[141]