About the design registration fee
■ In order to apply for design to Japan from foreign countries, there are “Direct Route” to apply directly to Japan and “The Hague Agreement Route” to designate Japan by international application under the Hague Agreement.
■ In the case of an international application under the Hague Agreement, expenses such as “application fee” and “registration fee” are paid to the International Bureau (WIPO) at the time of international application, so there is no need to pay to the Japan Patent Office.
■ International applications under the Hague Agreement can be filed without a local representative in Japan.
■ However, an applicant who does not have an address or residence in Japan can directly submit to the Patent Office the procedure (submission of a certificate, a written opinion, an amendment, a request for fee return, etc.) based on the provisions of the Design Act. In addition, it is necessary to select an agent (design manager) who has an address or residence in Japan to carry out the procedure.
Cost required for direct application to Japan
■ In order to obtain design registration, fees will be paid to the Patent Office at the filing stage, examination stage (intermediate process), registration stage, and maintenance stage, and costs will be incurred as a local agent.
Application stage costs
■ It is the cost required to apply for design registration.
■ The cost of the sum of “the fee to be paid to the Patent Office” and “the Our office fee” is required.
Fee to be paid to the Patent Office
| Item | Amount |
| Design application | 16,000 yen |
Our office fee
■ It is the cost for performing work related to design registration application as a local representative in Japan such as “preceding design search” and “preparation of application” at our office.
| Item | Amount |
| Design Application Fee | 50,000 yen |
Examination stage cost (intermediate processing)
■ If, as a result of examination by the examiner, it is judged that “ novelty ”, “non-creation difficulty”, etc. are not recognized, the applicant (agent) will be notified of “reason for refusal”.
■ In close contact with the applicant (agent), we will submit a written opinion refusing the “reason for refusal”, or make an amendment to reduce the scope of protection, eliminate the “reason for refusal,” then have the examiner recognize that the design meets the registration requirements.
■ For this purpose, it may be expensive to write a written opinion or an amendment, or to communicate with the examiner.
Our office fee (If necessary)
| Item | Amount |
| Processing costs such as written opinion, amendment | About 30,000 yen |
Registration stage costs
Once the examination by the examiner is completed and the registration decision is made, the design is registered and the design right is generated by paying the design registration fee for one year.
Fee to be paid to the Patent Office
| Item | Amount |
| One year’s design registration fee | 8,500 yen |
Our office fee
| Item | Amount |
| Design registration fee | 7,000 yen |
Maintenance phase costs
■ Design registration fee is required to maintain the design right.
■ Since the first year is stored at the time of patent registration, the design registration fee will be required every year from the second year.
Fee to be paid to the Patent Office
| Item | Amount |
| From the second to third years | 8,500 yen per year |
| From the fourth to the 20th year | 16,900 yen per year |
Design fee for our case
■ A list of the above design fees is shown below.
| Item | Our office fee | Patent office fee | Total |
| Application stage | 50,000 yen | 16,000 yen | 66,000 yen |
| Registration stage | 7,000 yen | 8,500 yen | 15,500 yen |
| Total | 57,000 yen | 24,500 yen | 81,500 yen |
＊If the examiner has notified you of the reasons for refusal, it will cost about 30,000 yen separately to prepare the written opinion / amendment.
＊A separate consumption tax is required for our office fee.
Design registration application under the Hague Agreement
Fee to be paid to the Patent Office
■Since you have already paid to the International Office of WIPO at the time of application, there is no cost to transfer to Japan.
Our office fee
■ In the case of an application under the Hague Agreement, costs may be incurred by the Japan Patent Office for the cost of carrying out various procedures such as the certificate of priority, and for the written opinion and amendment to the notice of the reason for refusal of the examiner.
| Item | Amount |
| written opinion and amendment | About 30,000 yen |
| Other administrative procedures such as certificates, etc. | 30000 yen |