Japan: From April 2026, patent and trademark registration certificates go digital (PDF)…paper mailing in principle abolished

The Japan Patent Office (JPO) has fully digitized the delivery of registration certificates and notices from April 1, 2026. The existing paper mail delivery is in principle abolished, and registration certificates for patents, utility models, designs, and trademarks, as well as annuity (annual fee) receipts, are consolidated into PDF electronic data.

What is changing

• Scope: registration certificates for patents, utility models, designs, and trademarks; annuity (annual fee) receipts, etc.
• Paper delivery abolished in principle → provided as electronic data (PDF)
• PDFs can be printed directly (patents, utility models, designs: cream-colored fine paper A4 / trademarks: matte coated paper or fine paper A4)

If you need a paper certificate

• A paper certificate is received about 3-4 weeks after submitting a "request for reissuance of a patent (registration) certificate" (fee: 4,600 yen)
• Printing on your behalf through an agent firm is also possible
• No effect on the right itself — it is a change in the "form" of the certificate; the registration and its validity remain the same

[Source] IMY International Patent Office · Japan Patent Office