The Japan Patent Office (JPO) has introduced a measure known as "service by publication" for documents that cannot be delivered to the intended recipient, by instead publishing the relevant information in the Official Gazette and the Patent Gazette, posting the information at the JPO or making the information accessible by other such means.
 
As of July 3, 2023, based on a revision to IP laws including the Patent, Utility Model, Design and Trademark Laws, this measure has been applied to cases in which difficulties in dispatching documents to overseas residents have remained unresolved for at least six months. The revision was formulated in response to the global spread of Covid-19 and the situation in Ukraine, owing to which international postal services have been suspended in some areas. Prior to the revision, official documents intended for overseas residents that did not have an agent in Japan were directly delivered thereto via airmail or suchlike.
 
For more information, please refer to the following JPO webpages.
 
<Service by Publication>
https://www.jpo.go.jp/e/system/laws/koji/index.html
 
<Introduction of Service by Publication under International Mail Service Suspension>
https://www.jpo.go.jp/e/system/laws/sesaku/servicepub_intlmail/index.html

 
Summary prepared by the International Information Group
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