TPP-11 May Affect Patent Term Adjustments Slightly, Speed Up Some Trademark Injunctions In Japan

On January 17, 2019, the Japanese Patent Attorney’s Association held a press conference in which presenter Seiji Matsuda pointed out the impact of the now-effective modified Trans-Pacific Partnership free trade agreement (often called TPP-11) on intellectual property. The major changes are found in a statute for patent duration extension for applications that underwent unduly long examinations, and a new standard for awarding damages for infringed trademarks (for more on copyright duration and the TPP-11, see another article on the TPP-11 from summer 2018.)

The TPP-11 (members include Australia, Brunei, Canada, Chile, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Peru, Singapore, and Vietnam) agreement involves leveling the business field in many areas of economics, including intellectual property. With the TPP-11 agreement going into effect on December 30, 2018, one of the policy changes is that patent applications that are delayed in registration beyond five years from