Which country's patent office is abbreviated as JPO?

JPO is the abbreviation for Japan’s patent office, officially called the Japan Patent Office. It is the Japanese government agency responsible for administering patents, utility models, designs and trademarks.

The office is part of Japan’s Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry. Its work includes examining applications, registering intellectual-property rights and supporting international cooperation on patent examination and prosecution. The English initials “JPO” are used extensively in international patent documents and cooperation programs.

A common mix-up is confusing JPO with KIPO, the Korean Intellectual Property Office, or CNIPA, China’s National Intellectual Property Administration. Germany’s office is usually abbreviated DPMA, from Deutsches Patent- und Markenamt. These abbreviations identify national or regional intellectual-property authorities, not types of patents.

Japan’s modern patent administration developed from the country’s industrial and legal modernization in the late nineteenth century. Today, the JPO is also associated with global patent-worksharing arrangements, including programs that allow participating offices to use examination results from another office.