A , short for , is a published, unexamined
Japan
Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...
ese
patent application
A patent application is a request pending at a patent office for the grant of a patent for an invention described in the patent specification and a set of one or more claim (patent), claims stated in a formal document, including necessary officia ...
, in contrast to the ''
kokoku'' or ''tokkyo kōhō'', the examined and approved
Japanese patent application.
''Kōkai'' means "open to the public", or "laid-open". ''Kōkai'' are published eighteen months after the earliest
priority date.
is another shorthand for ''kōkai tokkyo kōhō'', taken from the first character of ''tokkyo'' (patent) and the second of ''kōkai''.
See also
*
Japanese patent law
References
Japanese patent law
{{Japan-law-stub