March 9, 2022
Japan Patent Office
Administrative Affairs Division
Examination Standards Office
The Ministerial Ordinance Partially Amending the Ordinance for Enforcement of the Patent Act and the Ordinance for Enforcement of the Utility Model Act (Ordinance of the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry No. 10 of February 25, 2022) has been promulgated and will come into effect on April 1, 2022.
Please note that, in response to the revision of this Ministerial Ordinance, any Multi-Multi Claim (Note) will no longer be allowed in any patent application and application for utility model registration filed after the enforcement.
- (Note) The term “Multi-Multi Claim” as restricted by the revised Ministerial Ordinance means “any dependent claim that refers to more than one other claim in the alternative (“multiple dependent claim”) which depends from any other multiple dependent claim.”