Under the existing Japanese patent law, a non-exclusive license must be recorded in the JPO in order for the licensee to claim status as a licensee against a third party. However, the JPO will revise the patent law as of April 1, 2012, and it will be possible for a non-exclusive licensee to claim its status as a licensee against a third party, such as an assignee or an exclusive licensee of the patent right, without recording a non-exclusive license agreement with the JPO.

Even if you do not record an existing non-exclusive license with the JPO, you can claim your status as a licensee against a third party as of April 1, 2012. It will not be possible to record a non-exclusive license as of April 1, 2012.

This amendment applies to the patent law (34-5, 99), the utility model law (4-2, 19(3)), and the design law (5-2, 28(3)). There will be no change for Trademark law in this regard.