Regarding the extension of the period for responding to a notice of reasons for refusal, the Japanese Patent Office will revise the guidelines for written requests for extension submitted on or after April 1, 2007, as follows.

If an applicant has a justifiable reason for not being able to respond within the designated period, an extension of the period will be granted as described below. There are two justifiable reasons, and they are as follows.

Reason 1: The need to conduct experimentation to compare the claimed invention with the cited invention stated in the notice of reasons for refusal.

Reason 2: The need to translate the notice of reasons for refusal issued by the JPO and the documents to be submitted to the JPO, such as the written opinion and written amendments.

If the applicant is a resident abroad, an applicant who requests an extension due to Reason 1 or Reason 2 will be granted an extension to the designated period for response. One written request will result in an extension of the designated period by one month and up to three written requests may be submitted (maximum of a three-month extension). Only one written request may be submitted in the case of Reason 1.

It means that, according to the revised guidelines, a justifiable reason as well as the submission of two written requests and three written requests for two-month and three-month extensions, respectively, will be required for requesting an extension, whereas previously an applicant could obtain a three-months extension with only one written request regardless of the reason for requesting the extension. This revision is to be made due to the opinion that, there has been a significant difference between an applicant living abroad and an applicant living in Japan in the period for responding to a notice of reasons for refusal, since no extension other than the designated period of 60days was granted to an applicant living in Japan.

The fee to be paid at the time of submission is 2,100 yen per written request.

More than one written request may be submitted at the same time.