Under the Protocol Relating to the Madrid Agreement Concerning the International Registration of Marks (the “Madrid Protocol”), a trademark holder who submitted and registered a trademark with the Office of one of the contracting countries may designate, on the basis of the original application or registration, other contracting countries it seeks protection in, and submit an international application to the International Bureau of Intellectual Property through the Office of the country of origin. By obtaining an international registration, the Madrid Protocol states that the trademark will be protected in the designated countries, if no Office Action is issued within 12 months (or 18 months, according to each country's declaration).

In Japan, a response to an Office Action should be submitted within three months from the date of pronouncement. The deadline is extendable using three methods, as shown in the following diagram.

Even after the deadline to respond to an Office Action has passed, an application to extend may be submitted within a certain period to extend by three months and obtain a total response period of six months.

Further, in China, the deadline for responding to an Office Action is within 15 days from the issuance date and cannot be extended. In Korea, the deadline is two months, and a one month extension can be requested twice. The table below shows an overview of the deadlines in Japan, China and Korea.

The Asia Patent Alliance welcomes requests to draft arguments and amendments for Office Actions from the Japan Patent Office based on a complete contingency fee system. Please let us take care of your Office Actions for international trademarks from Japan, China and Korea.