Provisional Refusal Report(Madrid) in Japan

A provisional refusal notice will be issued via WIPO for trademark applications under the international registration system (Madrid Protocol) that are found by the designated country’s examination not to be in conformity with the laws and regulations of that country.

A provisional refusal is a notification that a trademark registration is not granted as a result of an examination by the patent office/ Intellectual Property Office of the designated country.

However, there is no need to give up on the registration of the trademark upon receipt of this report. You can submit a document stating your opinion to the patent office of the designated country or make amendments to the application in order to register the trademark.

There are two types of provisional refusal notices; Partial provisional refusal and Total provisional refusal.

Partial provisional refusal is a refusal of protection for only some of the designated goods or services in the international registration.
In the case of a partial refusal, even if the application is left unanswered, protection will be refused only for the part of the designated goods or services that are the subject of the refusal, while protection will be granted for the remaining designated goods or services.
However, the operation of the system is subject to change, so please always obtain the latest information from the country the notification was received.

Refusing to protect a trademark for international registration in the chosen country in its whole is known as a total provisional refusal.
In certain nations (including the U.S. and Japan), a total provisional refusal may be issued even if the provisional refusal report only addresses a portion of the targeted products or services.

In the case of a total rejection, if the applicant fails to respond to the provisional refusal, the trademark will be refused upon expiration of the deadline for response, and protection of the trademark in the designated country will no longer be granted.
If you receive a total rejection and wish to seek protection in the designated country, you must appoint a representative in that country.

We can represent you in responding to a provisional refusal of your international trademark application.

In order to act on your behalf, a Power of Attorney is necessary. We will provide you with a template for the power of attorney so all you need to do is write your name and address.
We will take care of everything else.

When an amendment alone can be handled, only $140(1 trademark,1 class) is required.

If an opinion letter is also required, an additional $240(trademark,1 class) is needed.
Click here to see the fee schedule.
Please contact us for a preliminary estimate.