The JPO announced that the remedial proceedings for cases affected by COVID-19 will be discontinued. The existing remedial measures will apply to proceedings for which the last day of the procedural period (the statutory period or the designated period (the period before the extension)) is on or after May 9, 2023. This is because the government decided that the status of COVID-19 infection should be downgraded from category 2 to category 5 as of May 8, 2023.