Who can become applicant in Japan

(March 25, 2011)

In Japan, an inventor, or his or her assignee can be an applicant. Also it is common in Japan for an assignee company to file a patent application as well as a PCT international application.
However, an applicant doesn’t have to submit an assignment unless the examiner requests it. In general, no assignment is required as long as the inventor’s address is the same as that of the assignee’s.