Brief Summary of JPO Annual Report 2013

On June 25th, the Japan Patent Office (JPO) published its Annual Report 2013. Some of the statistics contained in the report are as follows.

Patent applications stop decreasing

In 2012, the number of Patent Applications filed at the JPO was 342,796, nearly equal to the number of Patent Applications in 2011 (342,610) . A trend of decreasing numbers of patent applications in these several years seems to be bottoming out.

Data source: JPO (including all of the following)

PCT applications are rising steadily

The number of PCT applications filed at the JPO as the International Receiving Office in 2012 was about 43,000, a 12.7% increase over the previous year. The PCT applications continue to rise steadily.

The FA Pendency are reducing significantly

In 2012, the number of requests for examination was about 245,000, a 3.4% decrease compared to 2011. On the other side, the number of FAs (First Office Actions) was about 370,000(+1.6% compared to 2011). As the result, the FA Pendency (Forward-looking FA Pendency) in JPO was shortened to 16.1 months at the end of FY2012 (2013.03.31) , a reducing from of 6.1 months compared to the previous fiscal year.

The Patent Allowance Rate is still on the rise

The Patent Allowance Rate^* (Rate of Decisions to Grant a Patent) in 2012 was 66.8%, a 6.3% increase over the previous year. The Patent Allowance Rate is still on the rise as in these past several years.

* : The Patent Allowance Rate : the number of Decisions to Grant a Patent / the number of Decision to Grant a Patent + the number of Decisions of Refusal + the number of Withdrawls and Abandonment after a First Action. In 2012, the number of Decisions to Grant a Patent at JPO was about 255,000, up 15% over the previous year.

The grant rate of Appeals against Decision of Refusal* increased slightly

The grant rate of appeals against Decision of Refusal was 56%, a 2% increase over the previous year.

* : Grant rate of Appeals against Decision of Refusal : the number of decisions to grant an appeal / the number of decisions to grant an appeal + the number of decisions to deny (dismiss) an appeal