Legal basis is the Trademark Act of 1959, last amendment in force since April 18th, 2008 June 8, 2011.
Japan is a member of the Madrid Protocol.
The trademark law has been recently revised to permit registration of marks for retail or wholesale services (Law No. 55 of 2006, passed in the Diet in June of 2006 and effective as of April 1st, 2007).
Trademark protection is obtained by registration. It can also be acquired by sufficient public recognition pursuant to Section 2, Paragraph 1 (i) of Unfair Competition Prevention Law.
Japan follows the first-to-file system.

Nice classification, 10th edition

Registrable as a trademark are all distinctive and graphically representable signs, such as words, graphics, symbols, three-dimensional forms, or any combination of the mentioned signs, and any combination of a color and the mentioned combination of signs.
Three-dimensional shapes are the only non-traditional trademarks that can currently be registered under the Japanese Trademark Act. In practice, however, registration of three-dimensional shapes is often rejected by the Japanese Patent Office due to a lack of distinctiveness.
The following marks cannot be protected in Japan: invisible marks (like sounds, tastes, smells and textures), a color or combination of colors (e.g., colors without any shapes) and shapes of marks that are moving or changing (e.g., holograms and moving images).
The following trademark types are registrable: trade marks, service marks, defensive marks and collective marks.

The application is filed at the Patent Office.
Multiple-class applications are possible.
An applicant who wishes to file a Japanese trademark application from overseas must be represented by a Japanese trademark attorney, who should be contacted before any steps regarding an application are taken.
A power of attorney is not required for application. However, a power of attorney is required for divisional application.
Foreign applicants do not need a domestic registration.
The application process includes a formal examination, an examination of distinctiveness and a search for prior trademarks. Signs not deemed distinctive in the examination can be registered if distinctiveness has been acquired by use.
The processing time from first filing to registration is approx. 10 to 15 months.
The trademark application is published before substantive examination, approx. 3 weeks after the application in the Trademark Gazette (Shohyou Koukai Kouhou). After registration, the trademark is again published in the Trademark Gazette (Shohyou Kouhou).

National:
The opposition period is 2 months from publication date of the registration.

Opposition against designation of IR Mark
(The period starts from the national publication date, if not stated differently):
2 months

A trademark registration is valid for 10 years from the date of registration.
The registration is renewable for periods of 10 years.

A trademark must be used within 3 consecutive years of the registration date and for 3 consecutive years thereafter, otherwise the registration will become vulnerable to cancellation for non-use.

The official application fee is JPY 3,400.00 plus JPY 8,600.00(approx. EUR 90.00) per class for trademark applications and JPY 6,800.00 plus JPY 17,200.00 per class (approx. EUR 180.00) for defensive mark applications.

Trademark Licence Agreement
A trademark licence can either be a written or an oral agreement, or inferred by conduct. Licensing of unregistered marks is permitted. A licence agreement can be recorded only for registered trademarks. A trademark may be licensed for some or all of the goods or services covered. The request to record the licence and the underlying licence contract should clearly indicate the goods and/or services to be licensed. Licences may be exclusive or non-exclusive. The sale of a registered trademark does not automatically terminate the licence. There are no statutory provisions prescribing the terms of a licence agreement, but in the event that the licensee’s use is taken to mislead as to the quality of the licensed goods or services, or causes confusion, any person may demand the cancellation of the trademark registration.

Recordal
There are provisions in law for the voluntary recordal of a licensee with the Japanese Trademark Office (JPO). Exclusive licences must be recorded in order to enter into force. The licence can be registered at the JPO until the date of expiration of the trademark right. If the term of the licence extends beyond the remaining period of the relevant trademark registration, the recordal of the licence must be renewed for the rest of the term. If not, the recordal will expire concurrently with the trademark registration. There is no prescribed form or content for a licence agreement but it should preferably be in writing and contain the names and addresses of the parties involved, the number of the licensed trademark registration or application, the duration of the licence, the licensed goods/services, the permitted acts, and the date of the contract.

The following documents are required for a recordal:
1. A request for the licence registration
2. The original licence agreement, translated into Japanese (will be returned). If the original agreement is not available, a notarised copy will be acceptable


Effectiveness
The exclusive licence is effective only when it is recorded with the JPO. By contrast, a non-exclusive licence does not need to be recorded in order to be effective. A licence agreement becomes enforceable against third parties upon registration at the JPO. The licence is not required to be published.

Infringement Proceedings
There is an evidentiary presumption that use of a recorded licensee is permitted use. The licensee may join the proprietor in infringement proceedings. He may also call upon the owner to institute infringement proceedings. Only an exclusive licensee can institute proceedings based on his rights. He can seek an injunction against the use of the trademark, as well as compensation for damages. He does not need to cite the proprietor in any such proceedings. A non-exclusive licensee does not have the right to act against infringements or oppose third party applications in his own name.

Search type	First class	Add. class
Word Mark Search (availability)	420,00 €	270,00 €
Word Mark Search (identical)	250,00 €	150,00 €
Extended Search (word mark, company name, domain)	850,00 €	270,00 €
Device Mark Search (availability)	490,00 €	310,00 €
Trademark Owner Search	340,00 €
Company Name Search	520,00 €
Domain Name Search (extended)
i-Search (word mark availability + legal opinion)	480,00 €	320,00 €

The Prices above are S.M.D. Markeur Search Fees