Restriction of Multi-Multi Claims
According to the revision of this Ministerial Ordinance which will come into effect on April 1, 2022, in Japan, ‘Multi-Multi’ Claims will no longer be allowed in applications for the registration of patents and/or utility models filed after said enforcement date. In this connection, “Multi-Multi Claims" is used as defined by the revised Ministerial Ordinance, i.e., "any dependent claim that refers back to more than one preceding claim in the alternative ("multiple dependency claim") which depends on another multiple dependency claim."
The following is an outline of the proposed revision of the Examination Guidelines for Patents and Utility Models in accordance with the Ministerial Ordinance.
・If a patent application filed after the enforcement date of the Ministerial Ordinance contains any Multi-Multi claims, it will be refused in violation of Article 36(6)(iv) (Ministerial Ordinance regarding Disclosure Requirements)
・Multi-Multi claims and the claims referring thereto will not be examined for requirements other than the Ministerial Ordinance Requirements on Multi-Multi Claims.
・If, in response to a Notice of Reasons for Refusal on grounds of violation of the above Ministerial Ordinance Requirement on Multi-Multi Claims, the dependencies of the claims are correctly amended, and as a result of which, the amended claims are ready to be examined, the next Notice of Reasons for Refusal issued to the amended claims shall be a final Notice of Reasons for Refusal.
・If an application for a utility model registration filed after the enforcement date contains any Multi-Multi Claims, it shall not satisfy the Basic Requirements as stipulated in Article 6bis of the Utility Model Act.
JPO site: Restriction of Multi-Multi Claims | Japan Patent Office (jpo.go.jp)
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