Overview:

On September 1, 2022, the Japan Patent Office (“JPO”) announced the revision to the Japanese practice regarding the submission of a Power of Attorney (PoA) document. The new practice is scheduled to come into effect late September 2022.

Under the new practice, a copy (that means, NOT an original copy) of a Power of Attorney document will be accepted before the JPO.

Current Practice:

As you may know, the Japanese practice regarding the submission of a Power of Attorney document was revised recently in 2021. Under the current practice, we ask our overseas clients to adopt either of the following options:

1. to fill in blanks (type) in PoA (without handwritten signature) and return it to us in WORD format by e-mail; or
2. to execute PoA (with handwritten signature) and return the original copy to us by post.

The problem under the current practice is that, as a general rule, the JPO requires ORIGINAL of the PoA document. That means, if at least one entry (date, officer’s name, signature, etc.) in the PoA document is handwritten, we have to ask our client to send an original copy thereof by post. This procedure was really stressful for our overseas clients.

New Practice:

However, the JPO will soon accept a COPY of the PoA document, that is, the JPO will no longer require original copy. Under the new practice, we will simply ask our overseas clients:

• to fill in blanks (type or handwrite) in PoA (with or without handwritten signature) and return it to us by e-mail.

Of course, it will still be possible to submit a PoA document in accordance with the current procedure. Meanwhile, please note that, if the submitted copy is unclear, the JPO may request the submission of the original copy thereof later.

We believe that the new procedure will be more user-friendly especially for the overseas applicants.

We hope the above information and explanation are clear and sufficient for you. If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact us at info@allegropat.com.