Japan's INPIT has opened the fourth round of its subsidy program that helps smaller companies and research institutions pay part of the cost of protecting patents, utility models, designs, and trademarks outside Japan.
The program's stated purpose is to subsidize part of the expense of securing rights abroad, promoting overseas rights acquisition and supporting the construction of an international intellectual-property strategy for the applicant. Eligible applicants are small and medium-sized enterprises, along with testing and research institutions.
For the funding cap, cost-sharing rate, employee-count eligibility limits, and application dates, the program listing points applicants to a separate public offering guideline rather than stating them in the summary itself.
INPIT has commissioned a nonprofit invention-promotion association to run the program's secretariat. Applicants with questions can reach the office by phone at 03-3502-5424 or by email at [email protected], with staff available weekdays from 10:00 to 17:00, excluding weekends, national holidays, and the year-end closure from December 29 to January 3.
This is the fourth time the cycle has opened this fiscal year, extending a recurring channel through which smaller Japanese businesses and research bodies can offset part of what it costs to pursue patent and trademark protection before foreign offices.