Information
 

New Practice regarding Requests for Extension of Time to Respond to Office Actions             

The Japanese Patent Office has announced that a new practice regarding Requests for Extension of Time will take effect on April 1, 2007.  This practice will apply to all Requests for Extension of Time submitted on or after April 1, 2007, and covers Office Actions during the examination phase and Official Inquiries during the appeal phase.

What is the New Practice?

Currently, if you wish to extend the response due date for an Office Action, you can submit a Request for Extension of Time to obtain a one-time extension of three months.  This will be available until the end of March 2007.

As of April 1, 2007, a Request for Extension of Time will result in only a one-month extension.  This request for a one-month extension can be submitted up to three times for a maximum extension of three months.  Each request must be submitted no later than the pending response due date.

You will also be able to submit two or three Requests for Extension of Time at the same time, if desired, resulting in an extension of two or three months, respectively.  A single Request for Extension of Time of two or three months is not available.

Alternatively, you can submit a single Request for Extension of Time of one month first, and if you still need more time to respond to the Office Action at the end of the one-month extension, you can submit a second request, and then, if necessary, a third one.

In other words, you can choose the length of the extension to be from one to three months.  Therefore, if you wish to extend the original due date for responding to an Office Action, please let us know, before the due date, how many months you require for the extension.

If you have any questions about this matter, please contact us.