As an intellectual property counsel, the March 13 Jiji article titled "Japan aims to cut patent exam lengths in half" caught my eye. Unfortunately the on-line article did not link to an underlying copy of any press release or to a synopsis of the related bill that the Abe administration has presented to the Japanese Diet. Consequently it is difficult to assess the current announcements vis-a-vis the proposals going back to 2004 to shorten the average time it takes to examine Japanese patent applications. Hopefully this information will be disseminated soon. The twin objectives of a relatively short examination period and high-quality patent examination would be welcome by all stakeholders in the patent system.
The opinions expressed in this letter to the editor are the writer's own and do not necessarily reflect the policies of The Japan Times.