Prepare For The Japanese Patent Opposition System Coming Soon

The Japanese Patent Act was revised on May 14, 2014 to provide for post-grant oppositions within one year of the rule change, i.e., by May 14, 2015 (the exact effective date has not yet been set). Under the new opposition system, any party, including non-interested parties and straw men, will be able to file an opposition within 6 months of patent issuance and thus potentially cause invalidation soon after patent grant. In anticipation of the new system less than four months away, parties may wish to begin preparing now and consider being more aggressive in monitoring competitors' Japanese patent applications and allocating resources to file oppositions, as discussed further below.