Following the May 23, 2018, revision of the Unfair Competition Prevention Act, the Japan Patent Office announced a revision to its Examination Guidelines for Patent and Utility Models.
Following the revision, the time period (grace period) for which the provision of Exceptions to Lack of Novelty of Invention can be applied will be extended from 6 months to 1 year. This extension will apply to inventions published on or after December 9, 2017, while being claimed in applications filed on or after June 9, 2018.
For more information, please visit the JPO website at the following link:
http://www.jpo.go.jp/tetuzuki_e/t_tokkyo_e/h3006_kaitei_e.htm