On June 11, 2021, the Japanese Patent Workplace introduced that the signature on an influence of legal professional will be disbursed with when registering a change of possession for a granted patent / design / trademark.

December 2020, the JPO relaxed the signature requirements as part of the COVID-19 relief measures. As a result, signatures on power of attorney documents are not required for filing applications, complaints, notices of appointment, objection procedures, etc. This relief measure has not been applied to cases issued to record a change of ownership.

However, on June 12, 2021, an additional measure was accepted by the JPO. This measure provides that when recording a change of ownership and a change of name / address, no hand-signed original power of attorney documents have to be submitted for cases that have been issued.

Instead, the JPO also accepts power of attorney documents without an electronic signature (blank signature lines), but with the name of the signatory typed and the date. In addition, power of attorney documents with electronic signature are accepted. More precisely, in the case of an electronic signature, the name of the signatory can be entered in the form “/ name /” together with the signed date. Please note that a scan of a handwritten signature will be rejected.