Yes. In Japan, supplementary protection certificates (SPCs) are known as “patent term extensions”. In the pharmaceutical, veterinary and agrochemical fields, if an invention cannot be marketed until permission or registration under other laws and regulations has been obtained, multiple patent term extensions are possible, each up to a maximum of five years. Information about patent term extensions is available from the Japanese version of the Japan Platform for Patent Information (J-PlatPat) a free database provided by the Japan Patent Office (JPO).
An easy, step-by-step guide on how to find this information in the Japanese version of J-PlatPat can be found in the “Searching databases guide – Japan” on the EPO website.
