Part IV Amendments of Description, Claims or Drawings - Article 17-2 - Patent Act

Oct 29, 2026

Patent Act provisions covering Part IV amendments to the description, scope of claims, and drawings attached to a patent application. Article 17-2 explains when an applicant may amend these materials before service of the examiner’s decision certified copy, detailing permitted amendment situations after notices under Articles 50, 48-7, and further refusal notices, plus trial-related amendments. It also specifies limits on amendment scope, conditions relating to unity of invention under Article 37, and purposes allowed for claim amendments. Article 53 addresses dismissal of noncompliant amendments, and Article 126 outlines the trial for correction.

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Part IV Amendments of Description, Claims or Drawings

Relevant Provisions - Patent Act

Article 17-2 (Amendment of description, claim scope or drawings attached to the application)

Article 37 (Unity of invention)

Article 53 (Dismissal of amendments)

Article 126 (Trial for Correction)

Note: When any ambiguity of interpretation is found in this provisional translation, the Japanese text shall prevail. Part IV Amendments of Description, Claims or Drawings < Relevant Provisions > Patent Act (Amendment of Description, Claim or Drawing attached to the application) Article 17-2 An applicant for a patent may amend the description, scope of claims, or drawings attached to the application, before the service of the certified copy of the examiner's decision notifying that a patent is to be granted; provided, however, that following the receipt of a notice provided under Article 50, an amendment may only be made in the following cases: (i) where the applicant has received the first notice (hereinafter referred to in this Article as the "notice of reasons for refusal") under Article 50 (including the cases where it is applied mutatis mutandis pursuant to Article 159(2) (including the cases where it is applied mutatis mutandis pursuant to Article 174(2))and Article 163(2), hereinafter the same shall apply in this paragraph) and said amendment is made within the designated time limit under Article 50; (ii) where, following the receipt of the notice of reasons for refusal, the applicant has received a notice under Article 48-7 and said amendment is made within the designated time limit under said Article; (iii) where, following the receipt of the notice of reasons for refusal, the applicant has received a further notice of reasons for refusal and said amendment is made within the designated time limit under Article 50 with regard to the final notice of reasons for refusal; and (iv) where the applicant files a request for a trial against an examiner's decision of refusal and said amendment is made at the same time as said request for said trial. (2) (Omitted) (3) Except in the case where said amendment is made through the submission of a statement of correction of an incorrect translation, any amendment of the description, scope of claims or drawings under paragraph (1) shall be made within the scope of the matters described in the description, scope of claims or drawings originally attached to the application (in the case of a foreign language written application under Article 36-2(2), the translation of the foreign language documents as provided in Article 36-2(2) that is deemed to be the description, scope of claims and drawings under Article 36-2(6) (in the case where the amendment to the description, scope of claims or drawings has been made through the submission of the statement of correction of an incorrect translation, said translation or the amended description, scope of claims or drawings); the same shall also apply to Article 34-2(1) and Article 34-3(1).) (4) In addition to the case provided in the preceding paragraph, where any amendment of the scope of claims is made in the cases listed in the items of paragraph (1), the invention for which determination on its patentability is stated in the notice of reasons for refusal received prior to making the amendment and the invention constituted by the matters described in the amended scope of claims shall be of a group of inventions recognized as fulfilling the requirements of unity of invention set forth in Article 37. (5) In addition to the requirements provided in the preceding two paragraphs, in the cases of items (i), (iii) and (iv) of paragraph (1) (in the case of item (i) of said paragraph, limited to the case where the applicant has received a notice under Article 50-2 along with the notice of reasons for refusal), the amendment of the scope of claims shall be limited to those for the following purposes: (i) the deletion of a claim or claims as provided in Article 36(5); (ii) restriction of the scope of claims (limited to the cases where the restriction is to restrict matters required to identify the invention stated in a claim or claims under Article 36(5), and the industrial applicability and the problem to be solved of t

FAQs

When can an applicant amend the description, scope of claims, or drawings under Article 17-2?

An applicant may amend before service of the certified copy of the examiner’s decision notifying a patent grant, but only in the specific cases listed in Article 17-2 after receiving relevant notices. The amendment must also be made within the designated time limits.

What does Article 37 require for multiple inventions included in a single patent application?

It requires that two or more inventions can be subject to one application only if they form a group recognized as fulfilling the unity of invention based on their technical relationship designated in the applicable ordinance.

What happens if an amendment does not comply with Article 17-2 paragraphs 3 to 6?

Under Article 53, the examiner dismisses the amendment by a ruling if the amendment is found noncompliant before service of the certified copy of the examiner’s decision indicating the patent is to be granted.

Oct 29, 2026

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