This article provides a brief overview of recent data on Japanese trademarks, including trends in the number of applications and registrations, and the average time taken to obtain rights.
Trends in the Number of Applications and Registrations
The number of trademark applications in Japan increased around 2015 when the registration of Non-traditional Trademarks began. Since then, it has remained roughly 170,000 to 190,000 per year, including both international and domestic applications.
The number of registrations temporarily increased in FY2021 and FY2022 due to efforts to shorten the examination period, but in FY2023 it returned to roughly the typical annual level (about the same as in an average year).
Average Time to Rights
The period from filing to the first office action (FA period) and the period from filing to rights have both been shortened since 2020. In FY2023, the average time to rights was 7.3 months.
Top 10 Companies by Number of Trademark Registrations (Foreign Companies, 2023)
The top ten foreign companies by number of trademark registrations are as follows. The country code indicates the country or region in which the applicant is located. (These counts exclude registrations based on international trademark applications. In the case of joint applications, each applicant is counted separately.)
