Kubo International Patent  Hiroshima Office

Patent application

An invention refers to a technical idea, and since it is an idea, the scope of rights is defined by a written expression called a claim. It is necessary to take into account both technical textual expressions that explain technology and legal textual expressions that stipulate rights.
Therefore, patent attorneys with technical and legal background are required.
A patent's scope of rights does not extend to the analogous scope of a claim (which refers to a claim, not a complaint), and a claim presents the boundaries of rights.
Claims should be defined based on the technical common sense of the field to what extent they can and should be generalized.
A claim of "a pencil with a circular cross section" does not extend to a "pencil with a regular hexagonal cross section," but a claim of "a pencil with a columnar shape" extends to a "pencil with a regular hexagonal cross section." Then, what the claim "columnar pencil" refers to will be explained in the specification by showing pencils with circular or regular hexagonal cross sections in the drawings. In this way, the invention is defined as a legal right through a series of sentence expressions.

Design application

A design system is established globally for the use of industrial designs in business, and design rights holders are granted exclusive rights to design rights.
A design refers to the design of an article, and the scope of rights as a creative design is determined by the form of the article conceptualized from the drawing expressions grasped by the drawings and photographs expressed in the application documents. It is necessary to take into consideration both the ability to represent the shape of the space in a plan view that expresses the shape of the article, and the effect of the law that stipulates rights.
Therefore, patent attorneys with the ability to express spatial figures on plan views and the ability to reduce plan views to spatial figures are required. The object of design protection is defined as a set of the article of design and the form of design, and the scope of design rights extends to the similarity of articles and the similarity of the form of design. Therefore, depending on the case, it may be necessary to explain the purpose and function of the article at the time of filing. Patent attorneys who can handle such cases are required In addition, in accordance with the global trend, images displayed on computer terminals and smartphone screens have also been added to the scope of design rights protection. Designs of buildings and store interiors, and unique designs for so-called residential stores have also been added to the scope of protection. For images displayed on computer terminals and smartphone screens, while screen transitions that demonstrate the functions of goods are also subject to protection, since the focus is strictly on the design of the screen in this way, the content and the subject of protection are subject to protection. Care should be taken to avoid confusion.

Trademark application

A global trademark system is established for business use of marks displayed when providing products and services, and trademark rights holders are granted exclusive rights to their trademark rights. trademark
A trademark is a mark composed of letters and figures and combinations thereof, which is attached to goods and services provided, provides the function of indicating the source of goods and services, and is used by the trademark owner. It protects business reputation and gives the general public a quality assurance function with an indication of origin. The scope of trademark rights is determined by the goods/services specified in the application documents and the attached trademarks (characters/graphics). Trademark rights also extend to the similar range of goods and services and the similar range of trademarks (marks). Conversely, at the outer edge of the range of similarity, there is a danger that others may use goods and services in the range of confusion of origin. Therefore, it is necessary to designate the appropriate designated goods and designated services at the time of application. In the past, the Japan Patent Office tended to allow generic expressions for designated goods and services, but due to the global trend, there is a growing demand for designation of designated goods and services that conform to goods and services that use trademarks more strictly. has become In addition, for new product fields, applicants are required to make efforts to ensure that the product name is understood to be suitable for examination by the Patent Office. Therefore, depending on the case, it may be necessary to explain the designated goods and designated services at the time of filing.