Searching Asian documents
Find out whether a patent has been granted or is in force in Asia.
We conduct legal status searches for documents from China, Chinese Taipei, Korea, Japan and Hong Kong. We can then provide you with annotated reports in English or German.
With a legal status search you can:
- get the most up-to-date information from official Asian sources
- check the legal status of a particular document during and after the grant procedure and during legal proceedings
- receive electronic file histories for Japanese documents
- obtain supplementary information which is not available in English
- Getting started
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Send us the document number and any other details you have (e.g. application or publication date). We will usually deliver an annotated report on the current legal status and a database printout to you within one to two working days.
Don't forget to let us know whether you would like the report in English or German.
- Conditions
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Legal status reports Price JP/CN/TW/KR/HK documents (per query and document) EUR 35 Legal status watches Price JP/CN/TW/KR/HK documents (per document/watch run) EUR 28 Simultaneous monitoring of more than 10 JP/CN/TW/KR/HK documents (per document/watch run) EUR 26 For Japanese file histories, please contact us for a quote.
Terms and conditions for the delivery and use of EPO information products
- Further information
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Legal status reports
For up-to-date legal status information, we consult a range of comprehensive original language sources. We can provide additional details upon request, including citations, domestic priorities, divisional applications, patent term extensions (where applicable) and the names of the parties to various proceedings.
Legal status watches
We can also monitor the legal status of individual Asian documents for you. We run regular searches (e.g. quarterly or six-monthly) and send you a summary of the current legal status. This includes any new information, which will be highlighted and explained.
Japanese file histories
We can order copies of full or partial Japanese file histories from the Japan Patent Office (JPO) via the Japan Patent Information Organization (Japio). If the file is available electronically, we can e-mail it to you within a few working days. Paper-only files will take a little longer, as they need to be scanned first.
Other countries
We can also provide help with files from other Asian countries. For further details please contact us.
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