Japan Patent Office provides service of Patent Examination Initiation Expected Time Inquiry
Takuya FUJI

The Patent Examination Initiation Expected Time Inquiry is a service that provides information on the expected time of examination initiation for each pending application (excluding unpublished applications) on the JPO website. This service will help applicants (i) make decisions on whether to continue to pursue, and further take measures for facilitating the examination of their application in a timely manner based on the examination schedule, and (ii) in case their decision is to not pursue, request a refund of the examination fee before the examination begins. The expected time of examination initiation provided is only an estimate, and it does not guarantee the time of initiation. The expected time of examination initiation is reviewed four times a year, but examination of some applications may be initiated at a time different from the expected time depending on the progress of the examination in the relevant technical area.

If you have any questions about the expected timing of examination initiation for patent applications, please feel free to contact us.

https://www.jpo.go.jp/system/patent/shinsa/status/search_top.html (Japanese only)