Japan Patent Office Releases Status Report 2026: Applications Hit 10-Year High on December Surge

The Japan Patent Office (JPO) published its JPO Status Report 2026 on March 23, 2026. The annual report provides comprehensive statistical data and policy updates in both English and Japanese, covering intellectual property in Japan through the end of 2025.

Patent Applications: A Decade High

New patent applications in 2025 increased 17% year-over-year, reaching the highest level in more than ten years. The surge was driven primarily by an unusual concentration of over 82,000 applications filed in December 2025—a spike that stands out against the otherwise gradual trends of preceding years. By applicant origin, Japanese entities accounted for 80.3% of all filings, followed by applicants from the United States, China, and South Korea.

Despite the application volume increase, patent registrations (grants) declined for the second consecutive year. The registration rate held steady at 61.7%, continuing a gradual upward trend from 51.4% a decade ago.

Examination Processing Times

Average time to first action under normal examination is now 9.1 months. Accelerated examination delivers a first action in 2.3 months on average, while the super-accelerated track achieves first action in 0.9 months. These figures remain broadly consistent with prior years, with no significant deterioration in processing speed despite the application volume increase.

Trademark Applications

Trademark filings rose 6% in 2025, and total trademark registrations increased by 2% compared to the prior year. Average time to first action for trademark applications stands at 6.8 months under normal examination and 1.9 months under the accelerated track.

Invalidation Trials and Oppositions

Requests for patent invalidation trials held steady year-over-year—a stabilization worth noting given that the prior year had seen requests more than double. Requests for trademark invalidation trials fell by 10.5%.

A total of 133 patent invalidation dispositions were completed with an average pendency of 13.9 months. For trademark invalidations, 86 dispositions were completed at an average pendency of 13.4 months. Using figures from the Annual Report on Patent Administration 2025 (covering 2024 trial outcomes), the patent invalidation rate in cases reaching a substantive decision—excluding withdrawals and abandonments—was 27%, a slight uptick from the three preceding years.

AI Inventorship Review

Beyond the statistical data, the JPO has been reviewing how inventorship should be determined when AI systems contribute to the inventive process. The office has not prejudged any outcome and is currently in a broad consultative phase with stakeholders across industry and the legal community.

Implications of the December Spike

The December 2025 filing surge warrants attention from IP practitioners tracking Japanese portfolio strategy. The concentration of applications in a single month—likely driven in part by applicants seeking to preserve priority dates before year-end—will place near-term pressure on JPO examination resources. Whether this surge reflects substantive innovation output or tactical filing behavior remains an open question.

The full downstream impact on pendency and publication timelines is expected to be captured in the JPO’s next Annual Report on Patent Administration, scheduled for release in July 2026 in Japanese only. The Status Report 2026 therefore serves as the principal English-language reference for the current statistical landscape at the JPO.