The Japanese Patent Office (JPO) will be a participating office for designs with WIPO Digital Access Service (DAS) on January 1, 2020.

Currently, if an applicant files a design application in Japan or a Hague international application designating Japan with claiming priority, the applicant must submit an original copy of priority document to the JPO. After the JPO joins DAS, it will not be necessary to submit an original copy of priority document to the JPO, and it will be sufficient to indicate a DAS code in a Japanese design application or Hague international application.

Therefore, if the first filing office is a participating office for designs with DAS, please indicate the DAS code in your order letter when you entrust us with a Japanese designapplication.

The revision applies to Japanese design applications which are filed with the JPO on or after January 1, 2020 or Hague international applications with the internationalregistration dates of January 1, 2020 or later. As the filing date in the first country does not matter, the revision will be available even if the priority application is filed in the first country before January 1, 2020.